Time Paradox Revolution
by sbyamibakura
Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.
1. Broken

Time Paradox Revolution

By: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by J.K Rowling, Warner Bros. and others who are not me.I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated Mature for language, violence, sexual situations, slash, some underagedness, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, Remus/Draco, Ron/Hermione, etc.

Setting: Post-DH in the beginning, with spoilers for the whole series. Then set pre Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

: :: :

Chapter One: Broken

: :: :

_July, 2017. The Ministry of Magic._

"I don't care what the reason was! You let them destroy the gem! Do you have _any _idea how valuable and rare a Blood Ruby is? That Potion Masters and Alchemists alike salivate at the mere _mention _of one?" The man roars, slamming his fist down onto the solid oak desk, spittle flying everywhere.

He holds back his irritation as best as he can, trying to keep from sighing aloud. He settles back into the chair.

"And as I've told you-several times now-" his deep voice says in exasperation. "I had a choice between stopping them from destroying it or saving fourteen lives."

"The lives of fourteen Muggles who may or may not have been in danger of being killed?" The older man says, sitting back in his chair. He combs a hand through his hair-what was left of it-and glares at the other man across from him.

He pushes his glasses back up his nose and sighs.

"I made a decision as Head Auror. We're here to save lives; the worth of one gem is not equal to people's lives. I don't care if it was created by the Founders or Merlin himself." His voice says, steel in it. He did not regret what he did, not any of it. "Or did you forget that you made an oath to serve and _protect _the people, Minister?"

The Minister of Magic, Filiun Johbrack. was a slightly pudgy man who was just starting to reach his older years. Wizards and Witches these days lived longer than ever, partly thanks to the Potions and such that had been discovered. Filiun was newly appointed-just a few months under his belt, but he surely made people think he'd been doing the job for ages.

He was a strict man who had little thought of Muggles, other than disdain probably. A Full Blooded Wizard, he prided himself on that fact and didn't exactly hide it. Or rather he didn't hide it until _after _he was elected. It was a damned shame that Kingsley had to step down from the position. If he hadn't gotten himself severely injured in the last battle at Edinburgh, then he'd be sitting across from _him_ not would have the scar on his face where his right eye used to be for the rest of his life.

He himself hadn't thought that Kingsley would be impaired so badly he couldn't do his duties as Minister, but Kingsley had been pressured from the others around him and so he made the decision to step down.

Johbrack flinches as if he had been struck, then his expression turns to anger.

"How _dare _you speak to me that way? I don't care if you're Head Auror. I don't care if you are the-boy-who-lived. The _chosen _one.."

He grits his teeth and keeps himself from grabbing his wand and hexing the man in the face. He had to keep his cool. A hot head could mean the difference between life and death on the battlefield.

"You don't need to throw those titles back in my face." he says coolly. "_Your _newspaper is the one who put those monikers on me. I never asked for them."

Johbrack was the owner of the _Daily Prophet _for years, right up until he ran for Minister. He only stepped down because those in his circle said it would be a conflict of interest if the Minister of Magic also had that much authority over the newspapers. They were right.

The Minister starts to say something but he gets interrupted by a sudden beeping sound. Harry looks down at his watch. It was an unusual watch; instead of hands there were planets moving around it. He had bought it the moment he saw it in Diagon Alley. It reminded him so strongly of the former Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, that he had to have it. Though he hadn't expected to take as long as he had to learn how to read the damned thing.

"That was an alarm sent by my Second." Harry says, starting to stand. "I have to go."

"G-go!" The Minister sputters. "I am not done speaking to you!"

"Minister, it's important. My Second would not send me an alarm unless there was something bad going on. I have to go." he repeats.

The Minister wipes a bead of sweat off his brow with a folded hankerchief and grunts.

"Fine, fine. But we're not done yet." He warns. "I'll speak to you again soon, Potter."

Harry jerks his head in a short nod and leaves the Minister's office.

: :: :

"See, so you _had _to get down here. I know speaking with the Minister is important and all, but so is _this_." The grin on the man's face had to hurt it was so large. He wished he could still smile like that, so easily.

He looks down at the object in the other man's hands. It was a black photo of some kind, with some kind of blob on it. He couldn't really tell _what _it was.

"It's only about two months along; 'Mione didn't want me to tell anyone else till now, was afraid of how things would go. Not even Mum knows yet; going to tell her tonight."

"Oh. Oh wow, Ron. Congratulations." He manages to surprise himself and finds a wide smile for his best friend and Second in Command."I'm so happy for you two. It's been a long road for both of you, I know."

"Definitely." Ron laughs. He could laugh now, but it hadn't been easy for him, or for Hermione for that matter. They got married shortly after the battle at Hogwarts, where Riddle was taken down for the final time and everyone expected them to have six or seven kids within a few years like Mrs. Weasley had done, and as Fleur had done with Bill.

When they didn't have kids for a couple of years, no one really thought _too _much of it. After all, they were still very young. Hermione was a budding journalist and Ron was working his way through the Ministry, working to become an Auror, same as Harry was. With such a hectic schedule there didn't seem time for kids anyway. But when much more time had passed, when Ron had attained his Aurorhood and Hermione had decided to do much of her work from home, they decided to start a family.

A year passed, then more. Hermione would later learn that she had a syndrome that would make it almost impossible to have kids. After all, the wizarding world couldn't solve _everything_. There were steps they could take. Hermione went back to work to forget the pain and Ron devoted himself to becoming Second to Harry's Head Auror.

So to hear them finally pregnant was quite...unexpected to say the least. After all, the surrogacy had failed, as had trying adoption-with the ways things were now, Adoption was frozen so no one could adopt at the moment.

"I'm happy for you, Ron. Really." His smile becomes a little more strained this time.

Ron seems to notice the change in his best friend's behavior and frowns a bit.

"Harry..."

"Well, since you got me out of the Minister's clutches," he says, talking so the other man wouldn't. "Let's finish up these reports."

"Ugh. Why does it seem like we do more paperwork than our _actual _work. I'm going to file a complaint!"

"Go right ahead," Harry says, with a smirk. "But don't expect me to bail you out when the Minister fires off on you."

: :: :

"I'm home."

The silence of the house didn't surprise him. He merely shrugs, taking his cloak off and putting it on the coat rack. He walks into the living room on his left. Ginny was sitting in her chair, like usual, knitting something. He moves over to her chair, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek.

"Hey." he replies. "Sorry I'm late, got held up with some paperwork."

"Mmm."

He takes a seat in the chair closest to her, a small table seperating them.

"Yeah...so what are you knitting?"

She finally glances up at him, her brown eyes reflecting dully in the little bit of light in the room. He'd have to tell her to start using more light. It wasn't like money was an issue, after all; he made good money as Head Auror, not to mention the money he had left to him from his parents and Sirius...

"A sweater." she replies softly, looking back at her knitting. "For Ron and Hermione."

"Oh. That's nice. Yeah, I couldn't believe it when Ron said-"

"I need to finish dinner," she says abruptly, setting her knitting in her chair and walking towards the kitchen.

As soon as she is out of sight he lets out a sigh. He didn't bother saying that Kreacher would have gladly made dinner, as he had had enough of her looks and things she didn't say. If cooking made her happy, then more power to her.

He closes his eyes and he must have fallen asleep at some point because he jerks up abruptly, and sees that the lights in the living area were out. He stands, stretches slightly and heads towards the kitchen area where he still sees a light on. Ginny was seated at the table and he murmurs a greeting to Kreacher who was busy cleaning up some kind of mess on the stovetop. He holds back a sigh. She wanted to start cooking again, and to see her taking more initiative was a good thing so he didn't say anything.

"I tried a few new recipes...thought you might like..." she trails off.

Touched that she had tried this hard, he gives her a small, but warm, smile and sits down at the table and starts to eat. The meat was a bit bland and needed some salt, but all in all it wasn't that bad and just the fact that she was starting to do more things of her own volition was a pleasant surprise.

After a few minutes of clinking silverware and a usual silence for the house, Harry pushes his plate away and looks over at his wife. She was pale, unusually so (as she had been pale for as long as he could remember) and her brown eyes did not sparkle with that same sense of life he remembered in them, especially around his sixth year-her fifth-at Hogwarts, when she was much more open and in love with life in general. If only...

He clenches his jaw. No, there could be no 'if only' or 'what if's'. Things had happened and they couldn't be changed; and he loved his wife. They didn't have the perfect marriage, but then again who did?

"It's nice you're knitting them a sweater," he starts, getting back to what he was saying earlier. "I'll have to buy them something to match; I'd try and knit but I think they'd have my heads if I did. I still suck at it." He lets out a small laugh, slightly forced, but not entirely. He really _was _bad at knitting, even after Ginny, Hermione, Mrs. Weasley and even _Fleur _tried to teach him.

"Must be nice...they've been waiting a long time." she replies back softly. "A little baby..." Her eyes start to drift off.

"Ginny-"

"...ours would be about three now, wouldn't she Robert?"

He stiffens. She had fallen into another one of her episodes. She wasn't seeing him anymore.

"Ginny, I'm not Robert. I'm Harry. Your husband." he explains patiently.

She blinks a few times, confused, shaking her head.

"I already told you, Robert. I can't just up and leave him-he's been good to me. I have to take the time and explains things."

"Ginny!" he states again. "Look at me. I'm _Harry_!"

She starts to grab her head, too many things being fed to her at once. She wasn't as bad as she was in the beginning when...but she still wasn't well. He didn't like the idea of sending her to St. Mungo's though, so he had ignored the protests and brought her back home. He'd only send her there if there was no way of saving her from her problems. That and...he felt a responsibility to her. It was his fault that she was this way to begin with, so the least thing he could do was try and help her out of it.

His outburst seems to trigger her own and she stands, starting to scream. He catches Kreacher's eye and shakes his head minutely, a signal to let Harry take care of this on his own. He hurries out of his seat and around the side, grabbing her. She yells in protest.

"No! No! I told you I'm sorry-but I have to go!" she wails, fat tears starting to fall down her cheeks. "I'm...I'm with child. _His _child." She holds her stomach. "I never meant to hurt you, Harry. But you started staying later and later at work and..."

He pulls her hands away and looks her in the eyes. "Ginevra, you're not pregnant. And Robert is dead. He died in that Spell Duel, remember?" Yes, Robert Macray, Ginny's lover. He didn't know how long she had been seeing him, but she turned up pregnant and it happened during a time he was on an extended mission for the Ministry so there was no way it could be his. It devastated him.

He had never known a real family, growing up. The Dursleys had been utterly horrible to him. It wasn't till he got accepted to Hogwarts that he started be around better people. Ron, Hermione, the Weasleys and then Sirius...he had wanted that warm feeling of family that he hadn't known growing up and she had taken that from him.

They had gotten into a terrible row after she confessed her affair and Ginny, still arguing with Harry and not paying enough attention, had fallen down the stairs and landed horribly before Harry could even think of whipping out his wand to help her. She survived, barely, but the child had not. All the Magical and Muggle technology at the hospital's disposal wasn't enough to save both lives; they barely managed to save Ginny and after that, she hadn't ever been the same. He believed that the trigger was that, and the fact that her lover died the same day, in a Spell Duel he shouldn't have taken part in to begin with, as weak a wizard as he was.

She shudders and her eyes close, tears still falling down.

"I'm sorry, so sorry Harry. But I love him. I'm going to have his child and-"

He looks down at her with wet eyes and a heavy heart.

: :: :

"It had to be done." Ron replied. He didn't look happy but he didn't look pissed at Harry either. "She's been bad for awhile; I'm grateful you tried to help her this long, mate. But she needs more professional help than either of us are equipped for."

He nods slightly. He felt like a failure, but it had to be done.

"Right. I'm-going to take a breather, alright?" Harry says, standing up from his desk.

Ron's brows furrow but he nods at his best and oldest friend. "Yeah, go ahead. I've got it from here. S'only about half an hour or so left of paperwork; I can handle it."

For Ron, who hated paperwork about as much as he loathed spiders, it was a telling sign of their friendship. He manages a warm smile at the redhead.

"Thanks, Ron."

: :: :

He had no real destination in mind, just wandering where his feet took him. Thanks to him being Head Auror, he had access virtually anywhere in the Ministry at anytime. He sometimes wondered if that was also because of just _who _he was, but in times like this he couldn't find it in himself to really complain about the fame that came with being Harry Potter.

He comes to a halt and his eyebrows raise as he realizes that he was standing in the front of the Department of Mysteries, so named because it held the most mysterious objects, people and dealt with the most unusual things-unusual even for the magical world.

It was unusually silent around the area, even more so when he goes inside. He expected to see at least _one _Unspeakable but didn't even find that. He _did _find a large array of weird odds and ends that made him shake his head, the newest batch of Time-Turners, and a shrunken head that kept singing christmas carols at odd intervals.

He continues inside, passing through different passageways and narrowed hallways until he finally reaches a large open room. Only one thing was inside the room. Tall and wide, shimmering with what almost looked like starlight, was a Veil. _The _Veil.

He swallows against a sudden lump in his throat.

This was where his godfather, Sirius Black had died.

: :: :


	2. Obsession

Time Paradox Revolution

By: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by J.K Rowling, Warner Bros. and others who are not me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated Mature for language, violence, sexual situations, slash, some underagedness, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, Snape/Draco, Ron/Hermione, etc.

Setting: Post-DH in the beginning, with spoilers for the whole series. Then set pre Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

A/N: Have to say, I'm pleased with the response this fic is getting already! I'll try to keep up with your all's expectations!

: :: :

Chapter Two: Obsession

: :: :

It was larger than he remembered. Or perhaps it was because he hadn't seen it in so long that it appeared larger than life to him. He knew very little about it, unable to think of the thing which had-even if unintentionally-stolen the life of his godfather away from him. He had been lucky in that even in his time in needing to speak to Unspeakables, which was a funny oxymoron, that he could stay close towards the front of the Department of Mysteries.

Even the times when he had to hunt someone down to talk to in the Department, he still hadn't ever needed to go as far in as he was now. He gulps against a suddenly dry throat, looking up at it. It was fairly wide, but was much taller than it was wide. It shimmered with a black laquer like shimmer and here and there he could see flashes of white.

He could also hear voices. Some were louder than others, but he could not really make one out over the other; they all spoke, whatever they were, in murmurs. His feet make their way over closer. In the back of his mind he knew it was more than idiotic to get close enough to the thing. It had shown him that it could take the life of someone very easily, and while the object hadn't been the true fault of his godfather's death-that had been the bitch Bellatrix-it was still the final nail which sealed his fate. He had died, and Harry's life had been changed dramatically because of it.

He wondered quite often, though perhaps not as much as before, what his life would have been like if he had been over to Sirius sooner, had pushed Bellatrix out of the way before her curse could hit him, so many things...it was a scar over his heart, worse than any curse he had ever been hit with and it was one that had never gotten better with time, not really. Oh he put on an act for his friends, his family, when the subject of Sirius came up but no, he had never healed from it.

He could only do what he thought was right, to make Sirius proud like he wanted to make his parents proud, to make someone like Severus Snape proud (though Sirius would have sure to given him a large talking to if he knew the latter.) He had lost many people in his life, but the look on Sirius' face before falling through the veil haunted him worse, even after all these years.

He sits down in front of the Veil, uncaring if anyone caught him here; he was the _chosen _one, after all. One of the few times he was actually happy of the status the wizarding world had forcibly put on him. Time passes and he is facinated with the waves undulating from the veil, like an ocean of darkness. He strains his ears, trying to make out individual voices through it. It was more than likely a hopeless cause, but it was something he had to try.

"Sirius?" he whispered, feeling rather stupid but unable to stop himself. "Are you...are you there?"

No response that he could make out. Only the moans and groans of the dead were heard. He lets out a sigh before laughing slightly, shaking his head.

"I should have known better," he said, ruefully. "_I _know you're gone, but _here _doesn't." He places his hand over his heart. "Here doesn't realize that it's been more than fifteen years since I saw you last in person. God that...really brings things in perspective doesn't it? Well, I suppose you'd best know what you've missed since you've been away. First of all-"

: :: :

"Harry?...Harry!"

He jerks forward in surprise, blinking bleary eyes at his Second. Ron's eyebrows furrow in an expression of worry.

"Huh? Oh...sorry," he says, straightening up some papers on his desk that had gotten scattered. "Kind of zoned out there for a minute."

"You're telling me!" Ron snorts. "So...you _sure _you're alright, mate?"

Harry nods at his friend. "M'fine. So what's up?"

"Hermione's got a doctor appointment in a bit. I wanted to nip out here a bit early so I could go with her."

Harry smiles slightly. "Yeah, don't worry about it; you've done the same for me. Go right ahead. Just...let me know how it goes alright?"

Ron nods, smiling back at his friend. "Right. Later on then!" He waves a hand at Harry and makes his way out of the office. Leaving Harry in front of the stacks of documents that had yet to be signed. He sighs.

: :: :

"Is it sad that I've ever only been with one woman? You'd probably say it was, wouldn't you? Say something like 'you have plenty of time! Sow your wild oats! I did!' And I can imagine you did. But I was never...like that. You know how the Dursleys were to me. I just wanted a family I could care about. A _person _I could care about. You-" he stops for a moment, a lump in his throat. "When you said that I could live with you, I had never been happier. If I could have found that rat Wormtail and handed him over to the Ministry I would have done it in a heartbeat. You deserved better than you got, Sirius. So much more."

"I'm sorry."

He bows his head, hands over his updrawn knees as he sits in front of the veil. He closes his eyes and could almost feel a ghostly hand touch his face gently. If only it were true.

: :: :

"We've been going through names in the baby books. Muggle and Magical alike. There's so many choices, and then when you add gender in the mix..."

"Yeah," he says, smiling at her. "But you love looking through books. And I know you; I know you'll choose something suitable. Have you...I mean, any idea what it's going to be yet?"

She shakes her head, straightening up a bit in her chair across from him. Hermione Granger, now Hermione Weasley, was one of his oldest and dearest friends. She had been a shoulder to lean on through hard times. She was one of the few people he could ever talk about his Godfather to, after Sirius had died.

"No, but Mrs. Weasley seems to be thinking it's a boy. You can't really tell how I'm carrying it yet, so I can't imagine why she would think so."

"Perhaps because of the fact that she herself had six boys?" he says drily. 'It rather does run in the family."

She lets out an unladylike snort in agreement. "True enough, I suppose. Um, Harry, not to change the subject but are you alright? You look rather tired."

"Just catching up on work," he says evasively. "Had to clock in a lot of extra hours."

"Bet Johbrack really loves that."

He lets out a snort. "Yeah, right. He still hasn't gotten over the Blood Ruby incident."

A beep suddenly sounds and she looks at her watch. "Oh is that the time? I've got to run, sorry Harry." she gets up carefully, leaning over to give him a kiss on the cheek. "How about lunch on Sunday?"

He nods. "It's a deal. Now off with you-I have horrible paperwork I need to finish before my brain turns to mush." He shoo's her off with a grin.

The door closes and his grin fades. He sighs and runs a hand through his ever untidy hair. How long had it been now? A few weeks? Certainly long enough for his loved ones to take note of his personal state. But how could he not stay? There was nothing for him back at home, and being close to the Veil made him feel closer to Sirius. He had been alone for so long that he almost forgot what it felt like to feel another human's touch.

A _personal touch, _he should say. He and Ginny hadn't been...together...in quite a while. The last time they had tried she had had a severe flashback and he ended up with a bloodied nose and she had a fit. More than anything though he was just...lonely. He couldn't remember the last time he had been to the pub and hung out with friends, or really did anything outside work with anyone.

Perhaps that was why Hermione asked him out to lunch; she seemed to have a good knack for noticing things about him.

: :: :

He works for a few more hours, the itch of anticipation weighing more heavily on his shoulders by each passing hour. He greets the few people who come in the office with hardly more than a grunt and a wave, determined to get the work done. The moment he is finished, he grabs his wand and robes and hurries out the door.

He manages to not be noticed by any of the Unspeakables that were wandering around the halls. It wasn't that he wasn't allowed in the Department of Mysteries-he was-but he didn't feel up to answering any inquiring questions.

He gets back to the room, feeling his shoulders relax in relief at the sight of it. Strange considering what it also meant to him, what he had lost. But this was really the only tangible thing that he had left that had a tie to Sirius. Grimmauld Place didn't count-that may be where he lived now, but most of Sirius' stuff had been donated or else put away; it had been too hard, and still was now, to face the things Sirius had lived in in his daily life and other personal objects.

This thing, whatever it truly was, held Sirius, at least in some small way. Even if only but a memory or a whisper of one, it held something that was Sirius Black, which was more than Harry had before. He swallows.

It hurt.

It hurt so terribly bad. Why did he have to realize so late just what he had felt back then was something deeper than just the need for family? Why must he realize after the fact that he had cared for Sirius. Cared for him so deeply that his death was worth than anything Harry had ever faced before? _More _than cared for him. He looked deep inside his heart and knew without a doubt that...

"I love you," he whispered hoarsely. He didn't notice the tears falling silently down his cheeks, a testiment to his heartbreak. "I love you, Sirius. So much. Why didn't I realize? Why couldn't have I-"

He breaks off, eyes squeezed shut as a great feeling of self-loathing fills him up. He felt useless; if he could have been faster, he could have saved Sirius. But he hadn't and he had lost the person he had loved, even if he didn't know then what his true feelings were.

He feels that phantom hand again. He leans into it, longing entering his body.

"Harry, what the bloody hell are you doing? Get away from there!"

He gets jerked back by a pair of hands behind him and the hand touching his face disappears. He whips around to glare at his Second.

"Why did you do that?" he snarls. "I was-"

"-about to fall through that bloody thing, is what you were about to do!" Ron replies back, angrily. "Is this where you've been rushing off for who knows how long? I tried to look the other way, because I thought you just needed some space after everything that happened with Ginny, but when you're stuck in here staring at this thing..."

"You don't understand," Harry says, his voice strained. "This is all I have left of him."

Ron shakes his head, pity in his gaze as he looks at his dearest friend. "Harry, Sirius is dead. The Veil is just what it is. Sirius isn't in there."

"And how would you know?" Harry drives back, fiercely. "Just how much do you know about this thing? Who isn't to say that some part of him is? After all, I felt-"

Ron grabs his shoulders. "Mate, that's enough. This isn't healthy. I knew Sirius' death affected you, but you've got to let it go. You've your own life to lead. You can't keep dwelling in the past."

"It was my fault," Harry replies bitterly. "If I had been faster I could have saved him. He's dead because of me."

"Harry-"

"Let me go, Ron." He says quietly. "Just...give me some air."

Ron looks at him for a moment and cautiously lets go. Harry shakes his head and walks off. He leaves his friend in the room and turns right instead of the left he usually would to get out of the Department. He ignores the rows of artifacts on either side of him; they held no interest for him now.

The hallway was narrow and finally led to a singular door, oak with a small gold plaque on it. It said only one word on it: _Time_.

He opens the door and is greeted with hundreds of Time-Turners in various shapes and sizes. The Ministry had finally gotten some finished; the other batch they had had been destroyed many years ago, during the Raid in the Ministry by the Death Eaters.

"I can't...take it anymore." he whispers. "This isn't my life. Not the life I want to lead. I think everything turned into something it shouldn't have when you died."

He heads towards the center of the room and looks at one of the larger time-turners. It was big enough to where he needed both hands to grab onto it. He stares at it for a very long moment. Did he dare? Perhaps Ron was right and it was simply him needing to get over a loved ones death. ...But he didn't think so. So much was going wrong in the world, things that shouldn't have ever happened.

He lets out a deep breath and starts to turn it.

"_Harry_!"

He glances back and sees Ron standing in the doorway dumbfounded. Apparently he had decided to follow Harry.

"Mate, what are you doing?"

"Setting things right." Harry says, evenly. "It's all I can do, to atone."

"Atone? Harry, you don't have to-"

He stops turning it.

"But I do. I'm sorry, Ron. I really am. But I have to do this."

"No-!" Ron lunges forward but Harry disappears before he can reach him.

: :: :

He lands with a thud. He was in some sort of grassy area. Standing, he looks down at the Time-Turner in his hands and his brow raises when he notices the date on it. Looks like he went back a little farther than he intended. But...perhaps this was for the best.

Knowing everything he did, this was probably his greatest opportunity. Not to stop Sirius from going through the Veil, not to arrive at Godric's Hollow and try and halt Voldemort there. No...there was one moment that trumped those that started the domino effect.

...the moment Sirius turned over Secret Keeper to Peter Pettigrew.

He looks over at the house looming in front of him.

One chance. Only one. He would make it work.

He moves forward...

: :: :

A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed chapter two! I'm liking where it's going!

I hope you enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

-PhoenixJustice


	3. Envelope

Time Paradox Revolution

By: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by J.K Rowling, Warner Bros. and others who are not me.I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated Mature for language, violence, sexual situations, slash, some underagedness, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, etc.

Setting: Post-DH in the beginning, with spoilers for the whole series. Then set pre Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

: :: :

Part Three - Envelope

: :: :

The house looked better than he remembered. Though perhaps that was because he had only seen it a very few times in pictures, whole and still full of the life that lived inside its walls. He had no personal memories of the place; he had been too young when his parents had died and he'd been taken out of the rubble.

It was a fairly modest looking house compared to some and he could almost feel the love and warmth of it. A warmth of something that certainly had been snuffed out before its time. His parents...they were there now.

He swallows against a suddenly dry throat, feelings welling up within him. He looks at the person who had just apparated in front of the place, his heart and mind crying out.

And so was Sirius.

He had pictures of when Sirius was younger-though it had gotten harder and harder for him over the years to gaze at the pictures of his Godfather-but they did not do justice to the person that was Sirius Alphard Black. He was brimming with energy, passion and joy exuding from his very being. He shone so brightly with life that Harry had to very nearly turn away.

His Godfather looks this way and that way, a cautious look in his face which made Harry thankful that he remembered to put on the Invisibility spell before he had gotten close to the house. It gave him the freedom to look upon Sirius without feeling too guilty; usually when you looked upon someone for too long, they would notice and there would be that feeling of hesitation and uncomfortableness as they realized that they were being watched and you felt awkward and didn't know how to react to it.

It was possible that Sirius would be able to sense him on some level, after all he was only invisible to people's sight, but at least this way he didn't feel so self-conscious. Sirius couldn't exactly notice him looking at him, now could he?

He sees Sirius mutter a few words under his breath, wand in hand and after a moment the door opens and he steps inside. The man seemed to be taking any precaution he could which made Harry hurt all the more with the knowledge that someone who was so close to them all was the rat-fitting perhaps that his Animagus form was a rat-who they had all known since their childhood. The burning anger he felt for Peter Pettigrew never went out, only simmered, slowly, over time.

But he couldn't let that cloud his judgment now; he had a job to do. First was to see if Pettigrew had arrived yet or not. So he makes his way cautiously forward to one of the windows. He felt the tingle of magical wards as he approaches but is not harmed by them. Perhaps it was because it recognized his signature.

Though he was certainly much older than his year old counterpart inside the house, he was still Harry James Potter and the wards were obviously meant to recognize him as a 'friendly' and one who was to be protected.

He frowns as he is unable to see anything inside of the house; nor, as he strains his ears, is he able to hear anything other than a few scattered mutterings. He takes out his wand and taps it softly against the house, whispering his spell. It was a spell he, Ron and Hermione had devised, taking the Half Blood Prince's Muffliato as a kind of inspiration.

Instead of concealing ones words, as Muffliato was meant to do, their spell unvcovered things you normally couldn't hear. Whether it was whispered words or spell protected words, the spell would let you hear it. It wasn't something he often used; he felt guilty sometimes, for having to listen in on people's intimate conversations.

He gets as close as he dares and strains his ear forward, listening in.

"-gets bigger every time I come by! But damn if he isn't stuck with your ugly mug, Potter. Good thing he's saved by Lily's pretty eyes."

_Sirius! _

Yes he had seen him go inside the house, but he hadn't heard his voice in so, so long. His heart hammers harder in his chest and he grits his teeth against the sudden pain. He had to concentrate. Hearing his Godfather's voice was something he never expected to hear again, but he had to remember the reason he was here. If Moody were here, he'd be hammering on about '_CONSTANT VIGILANCE!_'

"Thanks a lot, Siri." Harry's father, James, says wryly. Harry closes his eyes for a moment. He never thought he'd get to hear his dad's voice again either. "So when did Peter say he was showing up? I swear that guy doesn't seem to realize the seriousness of the situation."

"You know him, James." Sirius says. "Scared at the drop of a hat. But that's exactly what we need. They'll never suspect him and they know that you and me are closer than him and you, so I'll be the bait and-"

"I still don't approve of this." the voice of Harry's mother, Lily, speaks suddenly. "The only reason I agreed to this was because of the both of you. I trust you, I do. More than anything. But I can't shake this uneasy feeling..."

_So Mum had a bad feeling. If she only knew what was to come..._

"I know. But it'll be alright." James says comfortingly. "You'll see. Here I'll put Harry to bed-"

Harry could hear the sound of footsteps and knew his father was heading up to put his younger self to bed. A room which would soon enough be a witness to a horrible scene. He squeezes his eyes shut, shaking his head. He had to get himself together, right now!

"I'm going to light a fag." Sirius says in the sudden silence. "Be back in a few."

"Sirius-"

"It's alright, Lily. Just going out the back. But if something _does _happen." he says exaggeratedly. "It's all on you and not letting anyone smoke inside the bloody house. Can see the headlines now; Incredibly Sexy Man Gunned Down as He Smokes Due to Redhead Being a Meanie."

Lily snorts. "Whatever you says, Pads. Out with you."

Harry takes that as a signal and starts to slowly make his way out towards the back of the place, where a fairly nice sized yard sat. It was occupied mostly by a plethora of child's toys, but there was also a small garden, which was obviously tended by loving hands. He watches his Godfather head out back, closing the door shut and leaning up against it as he lights up a cigarette.

His eyes close in pleasure and Harry has to swallow against a suddenly dry throat and he feels the weight of the paper in his pocket, written so shortly before Sirius arrived.

He had never had the time to really look at his Godfather in leisure; it's always awkward for someone when you stare at them and really, by the time he realized he had _wanted _to look at Sirius that way...it was too late. Far too late.

It was silent but for the sound of a few crickets chirping. He slowly makes his way forward. This was his time-Pettigrew hadn't arrived yet, the changing of Secret Keepers hadn't happened yet. This was his one and only chance. ...But he had no idea of what to say. Or do.

"You might want to show yourself, whoever you are," Sirius says suddenly, eyes still closed as he smoked. "I might get angry if you don't. That's my family in there and I don't take kindly to strangers who...somehow...manage to pass through strong wards."

Harry swallows, edging his way forward even more.

"...How did you know I was here?" he asks quietly, staying invisible for the moment.

"I could smell you." Sirius replies, his eyes finally opening as he glances around. "I may not look it, but I have a good nose for sensing people."

Harry knew that Sirius had enhanced senses when he became Snuffles, but didn't realize that also included his day-to-day life as a human; apparently becoming an Animagus gave you enhanced senses that others didn't have. Or perhaps it was only for particular cases, in the cases of what you transformed into. In Sirius' case, he became a dog, and they have good noses.

"I, er...can't. Not at the moment." Harry says back. It would be a little awkward if Sirius saw him at the moment. While he didn't look _exactly _like his father, it was so close that you almost couldn't tell that there were any differences.

His eyes may have looked different than his father's, and a bit of his face may have been a bit softer, but overall, he looked exceedingly like James Potter-a fact that people had spoken of time and time again. "And I mean no harm. I'd show myself if I could, but there was a bit of a...problem."

"Well you're not a ghost," Sirius continues, putting out his cigarette against the wall behind him and tossing it out in the distance. "Otherwise I wouldn't smell Earthly things on you. Ghosts smell...well, nevermind. But mate, I really have to insist you reveal yourself. This is an important day and I can't have it screwed up."

He gets as close as he dares, standing very close in front of his Godfather.

"I can't." he repeats. "Like I said though, I mean no harm. I just wanted to-"

He lets out a gasp as Sirius darts a hand forward, wand in hand like lightning.

"No, stop. Sirius, don't-"

The spell gets pulled away by Sirius' spell and Sirius' eyes widen as he takes in the sight of the man in front of him.

"James?" he says bewilderedly. "What're you doing-wait, no. You're not him. You can't be. You sound and smell differently than he does." His face darkens slightly. "Who are you?"

"...that's not important." Harry says. "I came here for a reason."

Sirius raises an eyebrow, unimpressed. Harry glances furtively around, trying to spot if Pettigrew was on his way or not. Of course it was always possible he would be scurrying up to the front door transformed like the rat he was. No rat-man in sight.

"Sirius, this is _important._" Harry hisses.

"And again you call me by my name and yet I have _no earthly idea_ who you are!" exclaimed Sirius. He pushes off the house and grabs onto Harry's lapels, anger clear in his young face. "Tell me who you are right now. Tell me why you look like my best mate. Tell me-"

_This was his last chance._

He takes the opportunity of Sirius' closeness to lean in and kiss him deeply. He hears his Godfather's sudden intake of breath, his confusion. Harry closes his eyes, savoring the moment as long as he can. He starts to shake as he feels Sirius hesitantly return the kiss.

It was more than he ever thought it could be, and tears fall from his eyes as he realizes the truth of something he wanted for so long but could never truly have. Not if he wanted to set things right.

_He _couldn't, but perhaps...perhaps the self he hoped to change would. Even if he no longer existed as he was now, to have Sirius back alive, to give the chance for the Harry inside the house to have the warmth and love of parents that he never had before, he would do it.

Sirius pushes back, brows furrowed, but he did not look angry. He looked...Harry wasn't sure of the word for what Sirius was looking like at that moment.

"Why did you..." Sirius says quietly. His eyes soften and Harry gasps as Sirius' hand touches the side of his face. His eyes close in pleasure. "Why did you come back, Harry? What is so wrong in the future, that you would risk coming back?"

His eyes open. "What-" he stops, trying to figure out his words before speaking. "How did you know?"

Sirius smiles. "Your eyes. There are only two people in the world who have eyes like those. And as you aren't a busty redhead-at least not that I can tell-then you'd have to be her son."

He nods hesitantly and felt all of fifteen again, filled with feelings that he didn't understand then but did now.

"So what brings you back here?"

"It's about you changing Secret-Keepers."

Sirius stiffens. "You know about that?"

Harry nods. "Yes. That's why I came here. I came to stop you."

Sirius looked confused. "But why? If you know about it, then you should know that it's important."

Harry shakes his head. "No. It's..." He tries to explain it in the best way. Yelling and hollering wouldn't help anything. "It's Wormtail. He's...you can't switch with him. You can't. Just take my word for it."

"Your word? But why? I know Peter isn't the smartest or bravest but he-"

"Is a traitor." Harry says bitterly. He stops. He hadn't meant to say it like that; he can see the color in his Godfather's face drain.

"What?" Sirius says faintly. Then his face starts to infuse with red and if looks could kill, Pettigrew would be a pile of ashes. _"I'll kill the bastard! How dare he-!_"

Harry grabs onto his Godfather's arm as he tries to hurry off. "Sirius, no!" His Godfather's grip was a lot stronger than he expected, but he somehow manages to keep ahold of him. "Running off in a blind rage won't help anything. You have to protect James and Lily; you have to keep an eye on my parents."

Sirius stops-mostly-struggling and looks down at his Godson. "But, Harry if he-"

Harry shakes his head and starts to say something but stops, nearly gasping, as he feels his body start to feel...lighter. He was disappearing. His eyes close for a long moment, before he pulls the envelope out of his pocket, pushing it into Sirius' hand.

"I never got to tell you this before you died," Harry says hoarsely. "But I love you. I love you so much, Sirius."

Sirius' eyes widen. "Harry-?"

"Read the letter." Harry continues, tears falling down his face as he starts to become more and more insubstantial. "Please. Show it to my mum and dad. _Please._"

"Harry!" Sirius exclaims, alarmed. He tries to keep hold of his Godson, but his arms fall through the other man. Harry smiles sadly at him.

"Goodbye, Sirius."

And he was gone.

: :: :

A/N: Whew! What a roller coaster chapter! I had been in a bit of a rut, but thankfully I had gotten my inspiration back and was able to sail through the rest of this chapter. I also know more of where this story is going now because of it.

I hope you all enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

-PhoenixJustice


	4. Letter

Time Paradox Revolution

by: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros and people who aren't me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for future sexual content, language, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, James/Lily, etc.

Setting: Post-Deathly Hallows, then pre-Sorcerers/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

: :: : : :: : : :: :

Chapter Four - Letter

: :: : : :: : : :: :

He stayed out there for a long moment, eyes staring at the place where Harry had been. It almost didn't seem real, what had just happened, but the proof lay in his slightly trembling hands. He looks down at the envelope. On the front simply said: To Mum, Dad and Sirius. The handwriting was a bit better than James' chicken scratch writing, that was for sure. He starts to smile, but stops. He could still feel the faint film of tears against his skin where Harry had been crying. He shakes his head. He couldn't dwell on it now, he owed it to Harry to see things differently. If Harry was right-and he had no reason to think he wasn't being truthful-then he had to make sure that damned fucking _rat _paid!

He heads back into the house, door slamming loudly behind him. He makes his way through the kitchen and heads into the living room, heading immediately to the fireplace. He picks up some of the powder on the mantle and throws it in.

"Albus, get to the house. _NOW. _It's more than fucking urgent! We're not changing Secrets..." his throat felt so dry. "We have a traitor in our midst."

He hears someone in the background before the fire goes out. Albus had gotten the call then, thank Merlin.

"Siri, don't slam the door, Harry's trying to sle-" the words die on James' lips as he looks at the man who was more than a best friend to him, who was like a brother. He hurries over to him. "What's wrong? You look paler than Professor Binns."

He takes a few steps over to one of the chairs, adjacent to the couch and plops into it ungracefully. He looks up at James, hands still shaking, handing him the letter. James takes it, brows furrowing as he looks at the front.

"Mum and dad and-what is this?" James asks, confused.

"Harry." Sirius says, hoarsely. "It's from Harry."

James shakes his head. "But that doesn't-" he looks back down at the letter. "Lily!"

He looks up to see Lily exiting Harry's room quickly, closing the door as soft as she can behind her.

"What's all this commotion about? Harry just went to bed." She stops as she sees the letter in James' hands.

"It's-"

"Any word from Wormtail yet?" Sirius asks, jaw clenched, doing his best not to shout.

"He just fire-called. He's already Apparated outside the bounds and should be here in a few minutes." Lily replied, looking concerned at her friend and his obvious anger.

"Not much time then." Sirius said quietly. "Open the letter."

James glances at his wife. "Sirius says it's from Harry."

Lily's eyebrows raise. "What?"

Sirius shakes his head. "He just gave it to me. It was...a Harry from the future."

"He used a Time-Turner?" James said bewildered. "But what was so bad that he would risk things?"

"Open the letter." Sirius repeated, feeling quite weary all of a sudden. The anger was still there, but he knew that it wouldn't reemerge until he saw that slimy, fucking bag of puss that dared to call itself a person named Peter Pettigrew. He closes his eyes, waiting.

After a little while, he hears a faint hitch in someone's breath and he could smell tears in the air. He looks up, both of his best friends, his family, were looking down at the letter that Harry had so desperately wanted them all to read, crying. He gets up after James gives a little "come here" gesture with his hand.

"Here, Siri. Read. We'll wait for Albus." James said.

"And Wormtail." Lily said, steel in her tone as she speaks his name.

He takes the letter and looks at it, heart heavy.

_Mum, dad,_

_It's hard to write to you. So many things I want to say. So many things I never got to say to you, like how much I love you. I never got to see you while I was growing up. Petunia and Vernon always discouraged questions about you. I know now that Petunia coped with things in her own way, but Vernon was always a very hard man, who never gave an inch. Their son Dudley actually turned out alright in the end. _

_But I'm sure you're wondering why I'm writing you and why I say these things._

_As I look at your house, I know today is the day that you've planned to change Secret-Keepers. Please listen to me when I say DON'T. Pettigrew can't be trusted. He's a traitor. When you changed Secret-Keepers, he gave Voldemort your position and you two were-gone. He took you away from me and I don't want that to happen to the Harry whom you love, the Harry who deserves to grow up with a parents love._

_Do whatever you can to stay safe. Please. Do it for me, your son whom you never knew, and do it for the son I hope to Merlin you can get to know. I love you both, always. Even if I no longer exist as I am now, it's worth it to see things be as they should be, for my parents to be safe, alive and happy. For little Harry to be happy. For Sirius to be happy._

_Sirius..._

_I've regretted your death every day of my life since I saw you fall through that Veil. I felt so powerless, and such a fool. I know I was only fifteen then, but if I had just done things as I was supposed to, you probably would never have... Ha, but I'm sure you'd still say "Harry, I decided to go to the Ministry on my own. Don't blame yourself." But it's hard not to. I don't think I can ever forgive myself for it. In the least though, I can do this for you, and for everyone else. I think Time stopped for me that day, those many years ago when you died. I loved my parents, but I never got to know them, so it never was able to feel like a __**tangible **__sort of love. But you were there. I had known you. Your death nearly destroyed me. _

_I was unable to sort out my feelings back then, what I felt for you. I mean, I was dealing with Voldemort and other things, so my own feelings went on the back burner in my mind, so I didn't realize back then I was in love with you until it was too late. I always regretted not being able to tell you, so when I see you again. I hope...I hope I get the chance._

_Please be safe, all of you._

_I love you._

_Harry P._

He could hear drops hit the parchment as his tears fell. Gods, Harry. He could only imagine what he had been through. He was sure his imagination couldn't even begin to cover what Harry had dealt with. He's startled a moment later at the sudden knocking at the door.

"James? Sirius? Lily? It's Peter."

: :: : : :: : : :: : : :: :


	5. Revealed

Time Paradox Revolution

by: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros and people who aren't me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for future sexual content, language, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, James/Lily, etc.

Setting: Post-Deathly Hallows, then pre-Sorcerers/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

: :: : : :: : : :: :

Chapter Five - Revealed

: :: : : :: : : :: :

His hands dig deeply into the arms of the chair he was sitting in. He'd apologize to Lily and James later if he messed up their chair, but at the moment, it was the only thing keeping him from taking a hold of the rat as soon as he saw him and making his life a living hell. That, and the words that Harry wrote on the parchment now sitting in his pocket, and the face of the man who he had met just a short while ago. A man with eyes filled with desperation, sorrow and...and love. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. He didn't know that Harry, the Harry who had lost _him_, the Harry who grew up without James and Lily in his life. He didn't _know _him...but he knew him, however briefly.

He could hear the front door opening and closes his eyes. He had to try to calm down. It wasn't his strong suit, but he had to think clearly if he wanted to make sure things went differently, for the sake of the future Harry who gave up everything to try and change things, to the little Harry sleeping soundly off in his room, to James and Lily, who had become the family he had never had the joy of knowing as a child.

"I'm sorry I'm late, I got a bit lost-" he heard Peter's voice faintly in the background say.

"It's okay, Peter." Lily said, voice sounding slightly strained. "Just good to know you made it safely."

And oh he knew how that had to hurt Lily to talk like that. Talk so civilly to the man who would try and betray them all, betray them to Voldemort, betray them because he was too weak willed to have any backbone and stand up for himself. He had been that way for as long as Sirius could remember.

Lily and Peter soon are within sight as they come into the living room, with James following behind. He looks at his best friend and could see the burning anger in his eyes as much as he could feel it in himself. But they couldn't sound the alarms, at least not yet. They had to wait for Albus and start to sort things out from there. He had no reason not to believe future Harry when he said Wormtail was a traitor; one look in his sorrow filled face told the story on its own, but they would be sure, official. If truth serum wouldn't get it out of Peter, Albus could do it, Sirius was sure. He had yet to see anyone, on their side anyway, that was as an accomplished Occulumens.

He didn't count Snivellus. That bastard was just saving his own skin, that's all there was to it.

"H-Hi, Sirius." Peter said. Heh, maybe the damn rat could sense the atmosphere for once, because he sounded rather quiet for him.

"Hi." he replied shortly, doing his best not to look at the pathetic excuse of a man heading his way.

"Is something wrong?" Peter asked, looking between the Potters and Sirius.

"No. Just waiting on Albus." he replied.

"We want to make sure everything is done correctly," Lily explains quickly. "And who better than Albus to make sure?"

"G-good idea," said Peter, sounding a bit nervous again.

Suddenly it was all too much again-and the chair probably wouldn't take more punishment before it was left in splinters-so he quickly gets up.

"I need some air." he says, making his way to the back door. "Feeling a bit too stuffy in here!"

: :: : : :: : : :: :

He closes the door with a sigh, leaning back against it, looking up at the nearly cloudless dark sky. A few stars were twinkling in the distance, the moon shining a silver crescent-not quite time for Remus to Change yet. He glances over but there was no future Harry Potter. He didn't expect there to be, but the memory was still fresh within him. It was part of the reason he knew, that he was having such a hard time.

He had been working hard to keep Lily, James, and Harry safe. So to find out that one of their own had been a traitor for who _knew _how long...it hurt. It made him so full of rage that he longed to tear into something-or someone-and it made his heart hurt terribly.

"You're sure?" A voice says suddenly. He opens his eyes-when did he close them?-and sees Albus standing there, looking as serious as he had ever seen him, eyes somber instead of the sparkling that he was used to seeing. He supposed he should be surprised how quickly Albus had arrived, but it was Albus and there wasn't much he didn't think he could do.

He knew what Albus was asking about without him even having to elaborate any further.

"Yes. He's inside." He was trying to speak as calmly as possible, so he didn't let anything on to the rat inside the house.

"How was it, seeing a grown up Harry Potter?" Albus asks, almost casually as he walks by Sirius.

Sirius' eyes widen almost comically in his face. "How-?"

Albus merely smiles. Damn mysterious old codger!

He follows him inside. As they make it back into the living area, he glances at everyone. James was tapping a few fingers against his leg as he sat in one of the chairs. Lily was tapping her a foot and Peter was glancing around at everything and nothing. James quickly jumps up out of the chair as he sees Sirius and Albus.

"Albus! Thank Merlin-" he hesitates after a warning glare from Lily. "We're anxious to get this done and over with."

"I'm sure you are." Albus said, with a slight smile. He was the picture of composure. It reminded Sirius that no matter how much they had all grown, Albus was still their elder. Not merely in years, rather in experience. You could be young and have more experience than someone twice your age. Albus had seen and done things that he was sure that the man had only told them a few percent about.

"Now!" Albus continues, a hand rummaging in one of his robes pockets. "If we're to begin, we'll need-aha!" He pulls out a slim vial with a small amount of clear liquid inside it. Although he never paid attention in class as much as he probably should have, he still did very well in most areas of school, so Sirius recognized it for what it was immediately; Veritaserum, the strongest truth potion. Peter, on the other hand, had been utterly horrible at potions and he was sure that the rat had no clue what it was; it took a skilled eye to tell what it was, especially so since there were more than a few clear potions. "Now Peter, take a seat over here if you please." He waves his wand and conjures up a chair. Maybe Albus noticed the shape of the seat Sirius had been sitting in? Oops.

Peter gets up from where he had been sitting and makes his way to the chair Albus had conjured in front of the fireplace, the flames crackling merrily as if mocking the somberness and bad air of the whole affair that was unfolding.

"Drink this, Peter, if you please." Albus says, uncorking and taking a few drops out with a dropper, handing it over to a visably nervous Peter Pettigrew.

"O-Of course." His hand was shaking but he didn't spill the potion anywhere. Within seconds his body starts to jerk slightly and cuffs appear from either side of the arms of the chair, going around his hands, keeping him in place. His eyes start to look out of focus and after a few moments was the most still Sirius could ever remember him being.

"So." Albus says, looking down at Peter with the coldest eyes he had ever seen the older wizard have. He gulps slightly against a suddenly dry throat. Thank Merlin Albus was on _their _side!

"Let's begin."

: :: : : :: : : :: : : :: :

Next chapter: Peter's horrid deeds come to light and decisions are made.


	6. Revealing

Time Paradox Revolution

by: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros and people who aren't me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for future sexual content, language, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, James/Lily, etc.

Setting: Post-Deathly Hallows, then pre-Sorcerers/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

: :: : : :: : : :: :

Chapter Six - Revealing

: :: : : : :: : : ::

"Where did everything begin? What put you on the road to changing sides?"

"The Dark Lord." Pettigrew started, eyes looking unfocused but his voice was clear. "I knew everyone was foolish to oppose him. So many people, so much maiming, torturing, so much murder. I was at the Hog's Head one day and I overheard a group of men talking and I knew they were Death Eaters. I must have stared at them for too long because one of them whips out his wand and starts threatening me."

"I didn't want to die. I wasn't going to become one of those people. Oh no I wasn't. I begged and pleaded for him to stop, told him I'd do anything. Told him I wanted to be one of them. He laughed and said that I didn't look too strong to him, but that the Dark Lord accepted many different people and that if I did all was asked of me, I would have the power I had always wanted; the power to hurt other people like they had hurt me."

"Hurt-? We had always been there for you!" Sirius said, jaw clenched. "We always stuck up for you! You had a few pranks played on you as a kid, get over it! We all did! That gives you _no fucking right _to betray the people who protected you!"

"Siri-" James started.

"No James! This fucking _rat _tried to undo everything that-!"

"That's enough, Sirius." Albus said, his voice strong and commanding, but not yelling. Sirius stops at his tone. "We are here to get answers out of him. Yelling will not accomplish what we desire, my dear boy. Now Peter. Obviously you cannot tell any of your allies where you are, but do they have any idea what you are trying to do?"

"No. Only the Dark Lord. He commanded me to tell him the location as soon as I became Secret-Keeper. He knew that he would get what he wanted. He was so angry. So angry." He cringes. "He was so angry when he none of us could bring the child the Prophecy referred to." He flinches slightly from an apparent memory.

"Tell us all you've told Voldemort, Peter. And all that he's told you." James said, softly but not quite gently. His eyes were hard as they looked at his, now former, friend.

And he did.

: :: : : :: : : :: :

It took a few hours. By the end of it, all of them (save Pettigrew) were rather sick from all the disgusting things they had heard. And it made Sirius angry. Even angrier than he had been. So blindingly angry that he felt a growl in the back of his throat that was just waiting to be let out, his hands balling up into fists to keep from strangling the rat with his bare hands. So angry that he had to step back outside for fear of doing something that he'd-probably not, but you never knew-regret later.

He slides down and sits against the wall next to the door, placing his head in his hands. He sits there like that for a few moments, trying to take in and let out deep breaths, trying to gain himself some composure. It felt like just yesterday that all of them were in getting into mischief or working on become Animagi so they could take care of Remus or working on their Map.

When did everything go wrong? How did things come to this point? That his world would change and things happened and if Harry, Harry from the future with the saddest eyes he'd ever seen, had to come back to change things then...just, he didn't know anymore.

He felt so lost.

"You're going to catch a cold sitting out here like that." said a voice suddenly.

He jerks in surprise and his eyes fly open. Looking down at him was the kind face of one of his other best friends in the entire world, Remus Lupin. Perpetually full of kindness tinged with a air of sadness, Remus had been one of his best friends for a long time, a man whom he'd do anything for. Who had always been there for him.

He stands up shakily. How long had he been out here? It didn't feel like very long, but then again his mind was on other things, so it could have been longer than he thought.

"Albus got word to the Ministry. They're sending Aurors to a location Albus gave them; said that one could never be too sure where Voldemort's Eyes and Ears were spying, so he's taking...taking Wormtail to them." His mouth thinned slightly, obvious disapproval and anger in his eyes.

He shakes his head. He heard the words, but they weren't really penetrating. Was he in shock? He vaguely remembered something about the symptoms from somewhere. Maybe it was Remus. Smart, knowledgeable Remus; he knew a little bit about everything it seemed. He'd just ask him and-

"Sirius!"

His eyes roll up in the back of his head and he collapses.

: :: : : :: : : :: : : :: :

_"You're stupid."_

_"E-Excuse me?! What? What is-"_

_"Close that trap you call a mouth and __**listen**__, fool. .stupid. So much so that I fear for my much superior mind by merely being around you. Of a sort, anyhow. Either way it's rather disconcerting for me to suddenly see a person in my living quarters. I stayed away for a __**reason**__."_

_"I have no idea what you're talking about. And who needs that kind of condescending talk anyhow? You talk just like Snape!"_

_"Hmph." Was that humor in that voice? "Indeed. Well we __**are **__both Slytherin's, it's only to be expected we would speak as is expected of us who are better than you Gryffin...what was that word you were thinking? Dork. Ha ha, indeed. Gryffindork indeed."_

_"You-"_

: :: : : :: : : :: :

His eyes fly open.

_His eyes fly open._

Ugh, he felt like he had drank one too many Firewhiskys.

_Well wasn't that just unpleasant. _

Surely Remus knew of a good headache cure. Had to be some sort of spell to sort things out...

_Surely that wasn't what he thought it was. People had crazy sorts of dreams all the time. Had to be some sort of spell to sort things out..._

He wasn't in his bed, but the couch in the living room but it was as comfortable as all get out. Which helped because his brain was about to burst out of his head. Or maybe that was just the headache making him cranky.

_He wasn't in his bed, but the couch in the living room but it was very comfortable, as it had been used for years. Which helped because his head was full of thoughts that felt the need to burst out of his head and that was making him a tad cranky._

He couldn't think about Wormtail and the close fucking call they had all been through. Because even though Peter had been stopped...it still wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

_He couldn't think about __**him **__and everything that had happened. Because even though time had passed...it still wasn't over. Not by a long shot._

: :: : : :: : : :: :

A/N: Things will be explained, don't worry! ...Eventually. XD


	7. Deposition or Ministry

Time Paradox Revolution

by: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros and people who aren't me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for future sexual content, language, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, James/Lily, etc.

Setting: Post-Deathly Hallows, then pre-Sorcerers/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

: :: : : :: : : :: :

Chapter Seven - Deposition (or Ministry)

: :: : : :: : : :: :

He didn't like the Ministry. Too much authority. Reminded him of school and detentions and all of the unfun things about school. A school of freaking _magic_ no less. It sucked having to come here, but it needed to be done and at least he wasn't alone. He glances next to him. Remus looked tired-he often did-but alert.

After that weird spell he had had, Remus had been hovering around close keeping an eye on him ("Damnit Moony I don't need a sodding nursemaid! I'm _fine_.") but honestly he didn't mind too much. He was just grateful Remus had accepted his apology. There was so much going on, and although trust was a hard pressed thing to find considering the circumstances he should _never _have suspected Remus; he'd lop off his arms and legs before ever betraying his friends, the people who were family to him, same as Sirius. Thankfully Remus had accepted his-many-apologies.

James and Lily were just ahead of them, looking more serious than he had ever seen them, but for good reason of course. Today was the official trial of Peter Pettigrew, with the full Wizagamot present. Although they all knew he was guilty, they still need a trial in front of the Wizagamot to get an official ruling.

Sirius considered Dumbledore's judgement more than enough, but the silly old coots from the Ministry demanded an inquiry and so here they all were. Other than Harry (he determinedly thinks of the small child in the Potter house, not the older, desperate, young man who looked at him in a way Sirius had never seen anyone look at one another-except for James and Lily.); the boy was too young to understand what was going on, and it still wasn't safe for him. It really wasn't safe for James and Lily either; Voldemort was still out there, searching for them and for Harry but they had insisted, and the Ministry had also insisted.

He had to give the Ministry credit, even if just a bit, as they had went all out with every conceivable protective spell, illusionary spell to hide all of their physical identities while out, and any and every other thing they could think of. And Dumbledore was there. Even _with _said protections, Sirius wouldn't have came if Dumbledore said it wasn't safe. He didn't listen to the man's orders or suggestions blindly, but he knew the man was older, much older, with more experience and was the greatest wizard alive (other than Voldemort.)

All the same, even _with _the Ministry's protections and Dumbledore there, he was still wary of the whole situation. He didn't like putting Lily and James in danger. They were as much family to him as people could be to one another, blood or not. James, Remus and Lily had proven time and again why blood is not always the most important thing. They were better family to him than the one he had grown up in. He'd promised himself a long time ago to treat his new family, the most important things in his life, as good as he could. To take care of them. The fact that Peter had so nearly gotten what he needed to sell James and Lily (and by extention Harry, who was the one Voldemort was searching for most of all) out was something that made him see red every time he thought about it.

The worst part of it was that he, in his egotistic thought, had nearly caused it made him also hate himself for it. He knew the others didn't think that way of it-they had said the very thing to him-but it didn't stop him from feeling that way. He thought himself so valuable, that they would look to him first, that Peter and his often quiet ways didn't even pass through his mind. The fact that it was true still didn't help him feel any better.

"I don't like leaving, Harry." Lily mutters, the glamour on her making her look like a brown haired slightly middle aged woman.

"I know. I don't either," said James quietly, looking like a tall, skinny, red haired man. Rather like Arthur Weasley, if Sirius thought about it. "He's as safe as he can be. All the Aurors we know and trust are there. They even took Veritaserum to prove they were on our side. There's nothing more we can do, Lil."

"He'll be alright," the calm voice of Remus pipes in. He looked more tired than he usually did; must be close to the full moon, Sirius thought. "Some of the best wizards out there are watching him. You know they'd all die to protect him and take him somewhere safe if need be, as we'd all."

:::::::::::::::::::::::

The trial lasted for six hours. Witness after witness were called, under oath of Veritaserum and some of the Ministry's best Legilimens to speak. He felt on edge the whole time. Not because of when he would have to speak, but for when Peter spoke. He already knew most of everything, from when Peter spoke in Potter Manor before, but all the same he didn't want to hear it again or anything else the bastard had to say. It took all his willpower not to head down to where Peter sat, tied and flanked by Auror's, and strangle the bastard or hex him into an unrecognizable mass.

James and Lily's time was brief, but very emotional. It had been a huge blow to them all. Because although Peter was not the closest person in their life, he _had_ been someone whom had been in their life for a long time now and was someone whom they all thought they could trust. Looking back, of course there were a couple signs here and there but nothing that've really stood out until truly scrutinized. He had betrayed them all, and had nearly caused the death of important people to him, and had only been stopped by the final action of a desperate young man who felt he had nothing to lose anymore.

Remus' turn was just as brief as theirs though just as potent. His own testimony was something he could barely remember. It both felt very short and very long to him; his own conflicting emotions not helping in the slightest.

Peter spoke next, speaking in the same monotone he had when speaking under the influence of the potion before. Sirius could hear gasps and other various noises from the crowd as the rat spoke, knowing that at least some of them also felt the same disgust and anger at the man as much as he did.

After what felt like an eternity, the judge, flanked by the jury of the wizagamot raised a hand for silence. The judge was Dumbledore, who was the head of the wizagamot. Though considering his many duties as Headmaster of Hogwarts, he didn't take on many of the cases that passed through the place himself but offered advice and did other tasks.

This trial though was an exception. James and Lily were both members of Dumbledore's own order, The Order of the Phoenix, but were also students (as were Sirius, Remus, and the wayward Peter) of Dumbledore's school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He knew Dumbledore felt a sense of responsibility for things; the man didn't have to say as much as it had been written on his lined face clear enough to the Animagus.

"We have all come here today, as you know, to seek the truth. To see if the accusations against Peter Pelligren Pettigrew are true." Dumbledore starts. Next to him was a spellographer who had been taking notes of the proceedings since it started. "We have scanned all the witnesses as well as the accused and all the potions have been thoroughly checked and made sure the correct dosages were given. In total, twenty-five witnesses were called and the one accused."

He turns to look better at Peter who was still sitting in the chair, and as the effects of the potion were obviously waning, he started to look more and more frightened. _Served him right_, Sirius thought.

"You have willfully sought out Death Eaters and the Dark Lord himself on numerous occasions. You have participated in the torture of twelve muggles, the botched rape into a murder of a witch and the rape of a muggle-born witch. You have kidnapped and sat by while others were kidnapped." He continues to go down a written list of parchment, naming each offence that Pettigrew had either done himself, participated in, or sat by and did nothing to stop. It was sickening.

Finally Dumbledore gets to the last of the parchement. "You have attempted to sell out the locations of James, Lily and Harry Potter which would lead the circumstances into murder. By the power given to me by the Wizagamot I will now lay down your sentence: Death by Dementors Kiss."

The crowd was silent save for a woman's loud sobs; Peter's mother.

"Come on," James says quietly. He turns to look at the man. His eyes were dry, but his face still looked strained. "I need to get Lily out of here and back home."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

-PhoenixJustice


	8. Clue

Time Paradox Revolution

by: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros and people who aren't me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for future sexual content, language, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, James/Lily, etc.

Setting: Post-Deathly Hallows, then pre-Sorcerers/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

A/N: Some time skips ahead!

: :: : : :: : : :: :

Chapter Eight - Clue

: :: : : :: : : :: :

Time, inevitably, passed.

People move on, continue their day to day lives (if possible) and even in the most darkest of circumstances can one find someone who does their best to move on and live life.

He had wondered many times how it could have been that two years had passed since that day in the Ministry. Often times he'd wake up from a dream (or nightmare) and have to be reminded that it had been that long since the trial. They had all left the Ministry that day, thankful that the proceedings were over but still filled with worry of what had not yet come to pass.

Voldemort.

The name, and figure, had been figuratively been looming over all of them the whole time. Although Peter had not managed to take the necessary information to Voldemort on James, Lily and Harry's location, that still didn't mean that another way wouldn't be found. Secret-Keeping was by no means fool-proof and there were loopholes involved in it. Those loopholes were precisely why Sirius had wanted the change in Keepers to begin with. If he, as Secret Keeper, were to die, or be killed, then the enchantment protecting James and his family would be gone and the Death Eaters would be sure to find them in short enough order.

He had protested when James and Lily had refused his second offer on changing Secret Keepers. Mind you he hadn't forgotten about how things had nearly gone the _first_ time (with him refusing to think about the desperate future Harry Potter) but this time they were better prepared and could take counter measures to make sure the person they'd make Secret Keeper was trustworthy (that's what things like Veritaserum were for, after all.) They had said no clearly. But then...

("I'm not safe, don't you two understand that? I'm going to be out in the world. You know me, I can't stay inside for who knows how long; I'd go mad. I have to be out there, I have to be _doing something_."

"We know, Siri. This isn't something we're going into lightly," James says, looking more serious than he usually did. "We know the risks."

"But we also know that you're strong and you'd never let Harry come to harm." Lily continues, her eyes moving over to where little Harry sat, playing with a few toys and making a few sounds. "You're his Godfather. If anything ever happened to us-"

"Stop." Sirius interupts. "If you would just change Keepers then there'd be no-"

"If anything ever happens to us," Lily continues, a sad smile on her face. "We know you'd do right by him. That's all we can ask for, Siri."

"We're not going to change Keepers." James says, glancing at his son briefly before turning to look back at his best friend. "But we've thought of a counter-measure against one of the drawbacks to the spell."

He raises an eyebrow. They all knew the loopholes involved, so what could they...?

James grins. Perhaps a shadow of the grins he had before, but considering the circumstances they were all in, it was definitely a step in the right direction.

"We're adding another Secret Keeper."

He sits back against his chair, stunned.

"What the hell-" at Lily's warning glare at his rising voice, glancing at little Harry, he lowers his voice. "What the hell do you mean you're adding another? That isn't possible; if it was, we'd have tried that by now."

"I thought so too, but then this arrived." James pulls a piece of folded parchment out of one of his pockets and extends it forward to Sirius.

He takes it, but looks down at it dubiously. After looking at the expectant gazes of his friends, he unfolds it and reads. It said thusly:

_~ For an extra helping hand, one must remember what they need; more._

_**Exatand Bauteng Endo Duo ~**_

He was absolutely stumped. For one thing, only select people knew their whereabouts and none of their handwriting fit this elegant script, not even Dumbledore. And although he knew the man had an odd sense of humor at most times, he knew that the man would not tease them so, not while something so serious was going on. He said as much to James and Lily.

"We wondered too," Lily says. "I had never seen anyone we know write like this and if it really were one of them, why would they go to such lengths to change their writing and write something so...odd."

"So we decided to contact Albus. If anyone would know what it could possibly mean, it'd be him." James continues. "He poked and prodded it for awhile. Finally said it was clear of anything Dark that he knew of, which of course was a relief, but it took him awhile to get at the heart of the message. I mean it looks like a spell; even _I _could tell that much. Looked like Latin. But he said it was configured in an odd configuration which made absolutely no sense to me, but you know Dumbledore. He said that it read something like; _Extend Binding Into Two._ Well unless the author of the note meant that they thought that we were lax on our House Elves' magical binding charms, then they obviously meant the only other Binding that they were in; Secret Keeping."

"But it gets weirder. He kept examining it and he said that it held a hidden message in the spell itself. How the man knows how to work out stuff like that, I'll never know..."

"Anyway," Lily says, rolling her eyes a bit after James trails off. "He said that it also held a second message within the spell itself and would only reveal it's message to its intended owner."

"So then we don't know what it says." he says. The whole affair was starting to make his head hurt, but at the same time, the possibilities of the spell held a lot of appeal.

"_We _don't," James says. "But you will. Albus activated the secret message, then had us do the same. It said; _To Black._"

His eyebrows raise high on his head. "For _me_? So what am I supposed to do?"

"Tap it three times with your wand; that's what Albus told us to do." Lily says.

He takes his wand out with a dubious look. It wasn't that he distrusted his friends-he didn't-but the whole affair was just..._odd_. And considering they were all people who waved around magic sticks, that was saying something. He taps it three times.

Instantly he feels something like a jolt run through his body, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, as a whispery kind of voice suddenly speaks to him.

_I am giving you a chance. If you wish to, for weaknesses of a Lord found, one must seek the advice at a tavern well known as the sun sets upon the day._

He looks back at them. Their eyes were wide as they looked at him. He glances out the window. It was getting close to sunset. He turns back to them.

"I've got to go.")

And now here he was, in Hogsmeade about to enter the Hog's Head hoping that one, this was the right place he needed to be, two, that this wasn't some sort of ruse by someone, and three, that he would manage to find something, learn something, important. It had been obvious enough in the letter who it had been referring to; there was only one man in Britain called Lord right now.

He enters the Hog's Head after a brief moment, taking in and letting out a breath. The place was relatively jumping compared to what it usually did. It's general shady nature kept it from being a hub of activity most of the time, as people generally didn't want to be bothered in the place and if they were busy with business, then they'd keep to the private corners and the like. So he was pretty surprised that there were so many people in the place at the moment, many talking with one another. Perhaps there was some sort of event going on...?

As he stands at the doorway looking around in growing anxiousness, he catches the eye of the barmen. He wanders over to the bar where the barman, an older man with long grey hair and beard, was wiping down a few glasses with a rag.

"Hey, Ab. What's the haps?"

The older man raises an eyebrow, looking away, and says nothing, continuing to wipe down the glasses. Sirius snorts. "Fat lot of good you ar-"

He stops. He glances in the direction the barman was glancing over at. An larger older gentlemen sat at a table, speaking rather loudly as he spoke with a couple of people. He does his best to try and hear what he was saying.

"-so I said, m'boy, I said, why would the team _not_ want you, after my recommendation?"

The people with him chuckle a bit.

"Now, are you two _sure_ you can't stay any longer? I can have Aberforth cook up some nice-"

"Nah, best be on our way," said one of the people, a man who looked slightly younger than the man he was speaking to. "Got a few odds and ends to take care of before the day is up, don't we dear?"

"He's got that one right," said an older lady. "Haven't been all day; still need to feed the dogs!"

"Well, if you think that'd be best," said the larger, older man, a bit grumpily. He smiles briefly. "See you next Tuesday then?"

They agree and say their goodbyes and the man gives a large sigh before taking a large drink from what looked to be brandy. Sirius makes a split second decision after seeing the conversation and makes his way over there, not noticing Aberforth giving a half of a smile.

At his arrival at the man's table, the man looks up. He seemed a bit tipsy, but not too far into his drink yet.

"Ahh! Young Mister Sirius Black, is it?" boomed the older man. Sirius tries not to wince as the man speaks his name loudly. He wasn't exactly _hiding_ but in a place like this, ears for the Dark could be anywhere. He glances around but no one seems to pay much attention to the older man. With a large mustache and a waistcoat straining against his stomach, Sirius recognized the man immediately; Horace Slughorn, recently retired Potions Master at Hogwarts. "And how are you, my boy? Here, sit, sit." He pats a chair near him and Sirius sits. "So what brings you to Hogsmeade this late day?"

Sirius starts to speak but pauses. He wasn't sure just what to say, exactly, or if it was even the right thing to do. But what choice did he have in the matter? He sighs. "Been going through a lot, sir." He wasn't exactly the kind of person who used his sirs and madam's to just anyone, but he had been raised to speak as one needed to in Wizarding society (even if he hated every lesson, he still could speak as elegantly as anyone if he felt the need to) and he felt it pertinent to be as polite as he could. He knew the kind of person the man was; he lived off praise, even if he knew it to be not so heartfelt. "A lot of hard times. Just trying to figure out what'd be best for me and my family. With all the Dark things out there, one must be extra cautious when speaking."

At that the older man seems to still and he looks at Sirius as serious as he could ever see the man being. He grimaces.

"I didn't believe her, but she said this would happen," the man mutters under his breath. "Sodding woman; I just want to be left alone in peace."

"Sir...?"

Slughorn looks at Sirius, frowning. "Nothing you need to know. But there must be a reason you're here isn't it? So _ask_."

At the last word, Sirius feels a fission run through him and suddenly he finds himself speaking in detail about more than he was going to; about the Dark Lord, about Peter, about his fear of not being able to protect the people who were his family more than his blood related ones. "And I just want to help. I feel so _helpless_ most of the time that it gets me so bloody anger I can't think straight. If I just had somewhere to start off from, somewhere to go from."

The man took in everything he said, looking somber as he stared at the younger man. "You've had a hard time. And I feel bad for everything, you understand? I feel for you and for all of you. I never meant to be a part of something, even indirectly," the man mutters, tears forming at the corner of his eyes. "I didn't know what would happen. I didn't know."

"Then help me," Sirius says fiercely, leaning forward. "If you feel horrible, then give me something, anything. I want to stop the horrible things that are happening. But I can't do it if I don't know where to begin. Let me help you be forgiven."

The older man trembles and after a few tense minutes, the man lets out a large sigh, taking a cloth from his pocket and wiping the sweat from his brow. "Forgiveness, forgiveness." the man mutters. He looks at Sirius then takes out a small box from his pocket and opens it, taking out a small quill, tiny ink bottle, a small stamp and a piece of rolled up parchment. He uncorks the ink bottle, dips his quill in and starts writing. When he's done, he blows on it a bit to dry it, stamps it, and hands it over to Sirius with a shaking hand.

"Permission to go." Slughorn says, gulping down the rest of his brandy in one quick drink.

"Go where?"

"Your start."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Vault 644." rang out the voice of the goblin next to him as the cart comes to a halt.

He nods to the goblin and leaves the cart, moving to the large door. He takes out the key he was given a few moments ago and opens it. A few snaps and pulls later, the door opens. He enters. The place was very, very bare. Nothing on the sides, the floors or anywhere he could see. It was also very dark. He takes out his wand and mutters a spell, lighting up his wand so he could see better. As he moves further into the vault he sees a light ahead and heads in it's direction. On a marble stand stood a black book in a glass case, with a small keyhole on its side. He mutters another spell and uses the key in the keyhole. It opens without a sound. He puts the key away and hesitantly grabs the book.

Nothing happens.

He glances down at the cover. It was black leather and gave off a very negative kind of feeling.

It said only one word.

Horcrux.


	9. Traveling

Time Paradox Revolution

by: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros and people who aren't me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for future sexual content, language, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, James/Lily, etc.

Setting: Post-Deathly Hallows, then pre-Sorcerers/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

A/N: More time skips in this chapter. _Past events written in italics._

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Chapter Nine - Traveling

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Is it time yet? Will he be here soon?"

Lily smiles gently at her son. It was hard to believe that they had already made it through five years of Harry's life; five years she was grateful to have, as she knew that originally her and James wouldn't have that much time with their most precious child. Every day with him was a blessing. He was a curious child, full of energy and life and happiness and as with many children his age he asked questions often but she didn't mind. She was happy that she was able to be in the position to answer his many questions.

Five years...

And Voldemort had seemingly not been active for all that time.

"Soon, Harry. Soon. He's busy, but you know he always looks forward to when he can come home and see us all." she assures him. He opens his mouth and before he can speak she gently interupts him. "And I'm sure he'd be more than happy to read your new book to you at bedtime."

"I suppose your dad is old news to you now," James fake sniffs. "I'm not exciting enough to read adventures with my boy anymore."

Lily rolls her eyes at James but Harry takes it a bit more seriously (as children at that age often do.)

"No! I love when you read me stories too, but Uncle Sirius isn't home very much. And he always looks tired. And sometimes he looks sad. I just want to make him smile."

Her heart melts at her son's gentleness and kindness. He was a thoughtful boy and seemed sensitive to the suffering of others.

James ruffles his son's hair and smiles at him. "You always do, Harry. As soon as he comes home he'll have a smile on his face; mark my words."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Five years.

What did he have to show for five years efforts? Not much, sadly. Progress? Sure he was making progress, but there were also many dead ends and restarts as he continued his search into the fabled Horcruxes of Lord Voldemort. The book had general information and Dumbledore's effort in aiding him also was a big help. It was from their combined efforts that he found himself here in Egypt. To be more specific, the Valley of the Kings.

The sun blazed hot and relentlessly and he finds himself sweating, even after the cooling charms he had placed on himself before leaving his ramshackle hotel with his guide. It had taken a lot of false starts and false information, as well as some invasive techniques into people's heads (which made him feel a bit queasy after) but he had finally learned of an area in the Valley of the Kings that all the locals spoke of.

"_It has a bad air about it. No one goes near it anymore."_

_"The last time someone ventured there, they didn't come back."_

_"Do not venture there, young sir, not if you value your life."_

Wouldn't be the first time he had ventured into a dangerous area and surely, Merlin willing, wouldn't be the last. It was the price he paid to try and deal with this. He owed to his family to try-no, not try. _Do_. He owed it to James, Lily and little Harry to bring the monster down; after all, it was his fault in his insisting on changing Secret-Keepers that he had nearly doomed them all. The fact that there was another Secret-Keeper out there made him feel more at ease during the times he left Potter Manor to continue his search for Horcruxes. That, and the fact that the other Secret-Keeper was Dumbledore. If anyone could be trusted to such an important secret, it was Dumbledore. No wizard alive, save Voldemort, held as much power as Dumbledore did.

The mystery of who wrote the note about being able to extend Secret-Keepers, as well as the note essentially telling him to go to Hogsmeade, was still unknown. No notes had been sent to any of them since then. But although he was curious on who wrote the notes, he had much more pressing things on his mind and his agenda, so that was on the backburner of his mind.

"Sir?" A hesitant accented voice speaks up. "Are you ready?"

He startles a bit, looking over as he gets pulled from his thoughts. A local Egyptian dressed in white looks at him questioningly. He was getting Muggle transport as he was travelling through a well populated area for a good chunk of the ride (tourists always flocked to the Valley of the Kings as one of the major tourists spots.) The man he was renting from was a squib who offered transport through the desert to Muggle and Wizard alike.

He glances at the man's ride and sighs.

"Fffpsh." said the camel.

He missed his motorcycle already.

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"Woah!" He extends a hand to grab onto the camel tighter. Anyone who said camel riding was fun and/or better than a motorbike or broom needed to be sent to St. Mungo's stat. The heat didn't help either; the sun continued to beat its rays down mercilessly on him as he continued the (slow) trek through the sand. The one thing he could say for the camel (who he jokingly named Joe) was that it moved well over the sand, even it _was_ slow.

It also didn't help that he had go around a longer way so he wouldn't get spotted by any officials; earlier in the ride was fine because there were tourists around and no one thought anything of it that he was in that area (and he wasn't the only one riding a camel either) but deeper into the Valley, there were places off limits to the public and only for officials to be in (both Muggles and Wizards alike; Cursebreakers often worked in areas off limits to the public, to help make them safer so tourists could eventually come see them.)

"You know, Joe," he starts, speaking to help alleviate some of his boredom. "This is my first time out of my country. Crazy, I know! With looks like mine, it's like a crime to stay cooped up in one place! Hahaha..." He trails off as he comes into eyeshot of some ruins and it is a both a beautiful, and sad, sight. Stone lay scattered or overturned, beautifully carved statues and pillars lay crumbled with some on their sides and some broken up into bits that littered the sandy ground. As he continues ahead, making his way carefully through the ruins, he spots a building just slightly ahead of him; his destination.

It had taken a lot to find this place. The book Slughorn had given him had spoken of what horcruxes were, their nature, how they were created and things like that. Important things to be sure, very important. But it still didn't give him any clues on where Voldemort had personally hidden _his_. It had taken months to finally come across a solid lead; a Death Eater who was hiding in plain sight in Diagon Alley. It had been a surprise to find a Death Eater of his level in the midst of a place that was often filled with Ministry officials, especially in this day and age. After all, Voldemort hadn't been seen in quite some time but there were no reports or anything of his death (as Sirius knew wouldn't happen, at least right now, thanks to his Horcruxes) so to say the Ministry was being cautious was an understatement. Although they weren't lining themselves all over Diagon Alley and other establishments anymore like they were, they were still doing daily patrols to keep watch for anything Dark, Death Eater or no.

The man they captured had been adamant about not saying anything, but although he was a surprisingly decent legilimens (Sirius supposed quite a few in Voldemort's camp was, as he wouldn't want them spilling any secrets of his) he still didn't match up to someone of Dumbledore's level. Few could. The man spills things in short order and it was from that that they gained knowledge of the ruins. Sirius could tell from the man's demeanor after the interrogation that he was almost glad the Ministry was taking him to Azkaban, which was a scary thought when you thought about it; something Voldemort had or could do was so bad that _Azkaban_ and the Dementors seemed like the better option. Scary.

He brings the camel to a halt as best he can and hops off, grabbing the small bag on the side where it had been hanging. "Sorry, this is as far as you go, Joe. Too dangerous for a cutie like you." The camel gives a snort and shakes it head a bit but doesn't try to follow him as he makes his way to the mouth of the entrance. Although the outside of the place was littered with ruin, the entrance was still in relatively good shape and the large, large entranceway gave him a brief pause of awe and he took in the large, elaborately carved stone doors. They were inlaid with gold and jewels and portrayed some of the more well known Pharoah's and Queens of Egypt; Ramses the Great, Tutankhamun, Nefertiti and Cleopatra.

He stops himself from touching the doors though, instead he pulls out his wand and start muttering a number of spells under his breath. Nothing happens. The only sound he could hear was the camel in the distance and the whistling from a slight breeze. He takes in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Showtime. He pushes the door open.

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Darkness was the first thing he noticed. He stops in the doorway, jumping slightly as the large doors close behind him with a loud sound of what felt like finality. He grips his wand tighter, refusing to let fear fill him and stop him from what he needed to do.

"_Lumos_," he says clearly.

As if the spell itself was a trigger, instead of his wand lighting up sets of torches come to life across either side of him, the flames burning brightly and largely, illuminating the surroundings. As he cautiously walks further ahead he sees more of the carved figures in the wall as he did outside. Instead of the pharoah's and queens outside, however, there were figures of what were undoubtedly witches and wizards; carved wizards and witches in pointed hats in robes in different poses and actions. Some were in mid spell, a curve portraying the blast of a spell that was heading toward what looked like something he could only classify as _demon_. The portraits, for lack of a better word, were all colored in all manor of colors, some looking so vivid as if they could just pop out of the stone and come to life. As he continues around the twisting corridors, he takes in all he can, looking for anything significant looking or out of place; from what they had gathered from Voldemort, and from the bits he knew from Dumbledore's own experience, he knew that the man held himself in high regard and wouldn't have just _any _old thing hold something so precious as his own soul. Then again, the man didn't seem to hold his own self in high regard, allowing his soul to be mutilated so deeply because of his inate fear of death.

A few doors appear here and there as he continues making his way through the corridor, but he finds nothing of interest inside; merely some broken tapestries and broken tools. He still checked with a few spells to make sure that they weren't in fact items that were one thing but looked like another, but that turned up nothing. He sighs. What he wouldn't wish to have someone here with him to keep him company; all this time alone with no one to talk to was sure to drive him insane. It was a fleeting thought though, as he didn't wish to put anyone at risk more than necessary. As much as he longed to have James here, his best friend, his brother, he didn't want to put him in any danger; the man had a wife and child, after all. Sirius determinedly thinks of other things instead of other thoughts that sometime plague him when truly alone and with no one to talk to; memories of a young man with green eyes that burned into him and a desperate kiss.

He'd been half tempted to ask Remus here, but the information he gleamed came at a bad time, as it was so close to a full moon; Remus would not be in any shape to help him while dealing with the side effects of his lycanthropy-he could only hope Remus had a safe place to bed during those times. After what seems like forever to him, he finally comes to a crossroads. In front of him, and on either side of him led to different corridors, all seemingly the same. He sighs again.

"What an arsehole you are, Riddle." he says angrily, having learned the man's name from Dumbledore a short while ago. "I hope that no matter how long you live, which I hope isn't long, you'll always know that Sirius Orion Black called you an arsehole. In an Egyptian ruin no less. Can't say I don't have any style."

After pondering on which to take, and muttering under his breath ("Why Dumbledore couldn't come with me, Merlin only bloody knows...")he heads down the right path, hoping to find something of significance before got old and gray. Much of the carvings were the same, though now there were also reliefs of people as he walked down, torchlight still illuminating everything. At the end of the long corridor stood a relief on its own; a figure of what looked like a Queen of Egypt, though he wasn't sure which one it was (possibly Nefertiti again) but it's the item on its head which makes his heart start to skip a few beats. On its head was a golden, elaborately made item, runes and sigls carefully marked into its thin frame.

If that didn't look like a potential Horcrux, his name wasn't Sirius Black.

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After a multitude of every spell he could think of to identify anything out of the ordinary or Dark, he carefully, very carefully, lifts the golden band from its resting place with his wand and places it inside of the Mokeskin bag he had recently acquired. After looking down in the bag to make sure it was still in good condition, he ties the bag closed and puts it back where he had tied it. He starts to walk back the way he came and self-doubt starts to creep in. After all, it couldn't be _that_ easy, could it? Would Voldemort really be that blase about something that was so significant? Even if Voldemort didn't put any stock in his own soul, surely the _container_ meant something to him. Then again, this was an out of place way in a country and continent very far from Britain and Voldemort probably doubted that anyone could ever piece together enough information to find out this location, much less about Horcruxes in general (the information being so very rare as it was.)

A sound suddenly comes from behind him and he stops, hesitating in his next step. He looks around. Nothing. Could have just been a few stones knocked loose; after all, this place _was _old. But considering the caliber of person he was dealing with-even if only indirectly through said persons Horcruxes-he wasn't about to take any chances. He grips his wand tighter, ready to cast a spell at the first sign of-

He turns and his face pales. The carvings were coming to life, ironically mirroring his thoughts from earlier, with the sound of large grating as the carvings twisted and moved. And they were all looking at him. He does the only sensible thing.

He runs.

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The corridor seemed longer than ever as he ran through it at breakneck speed, dodging, twisting, and turning as the carvings raced after him, moving faster than large stone carvings had any right to. _And _they were casting spells. Then it got even worse, as the reliefs on either side of the corridor also came to life, launching themselves at him at every opportunity. A few well placed spells blast a few into tiny chunks, but even they, as he looks on in horror, also continue to come at him. It was horrifying to see large stone eyes or arms or hands crawl after him.

He makes it to the entrance mouth of the crossroad and curses loudly as he takes in the direction where he came into the ruins. It was completely smoothed over, as if it had never been opened in the first place, and a few hasty spells to blast it open do little but chip off slivers of the stone.

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit, _shit_!" he exclaims. He had no bloody time and his way out was now blocked off. His only choice was to go deeper into the ruins. But which way-? He starts to head down the left way but quickly stops as he sees the carvings there start to also come into life, turning in their grotesque way and head in his direction. He runs into the front way and is only slightly relieved at seeing that the carvings here had not yet come to life (that he could tell) and sees a door off into the distance.

He starts to think he's home free, or at least a little less worse off, when he gets near the door, ready to open it. He feels a hard stone grip on one of his ankles and he falls onto the ground hard, golden band falling out of his bag, clattering to the floor as his wand flies from his grip. He manages to turn and his eyes widen as he sees the carving on the ground, one hand holding painfully tight to his ankle. It had been quiet, too quiet. He should have realized something was up. The ones in here were more sneaky. And now he was stuck with no way to deal with this. Alone. _He had failed._

He closes his eyes, waiting for inevitable.

A voice speaks, startling him out of his stupor.

"_Get down, boy!"_

Without really thinking about it, he does as he's told.

_"Incendio!"_

A burst of flame unlike anything Sirius had ever seen flies over his head and down the corridor in a ferocious frenzy of fire, seemingly roaring as it enveloped all the carvings that had gathered, instantly turning them to dust-including the one that had gripped him so tightly. And just like that, the flame was gone, with nary a scorch mark on any of the other things in the corridor. He shakes slightly and startles visibly as a hand pulls him roughly up.

"Are you alright, boy?"

He looks up at his apparent savior.

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A/N: Hee, cliffhanger! XD

I hope you enjoyed this! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. =3

Let me know what you thought!

-PhoenixJustice


	10. Found

Time Paradox Revolution

by: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros and people who aren't me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for future sexual content, language, violence, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, James/Lily, etc.

Setting: Post-Deathly Hallows, then pre-Sorcerers/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

A/N: Sad no one seemed to get the Joe reference I gave the camel last chapter lol.

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Chapter Ten - Found(er)

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He gets up shakily and quickly gets his wand back in hand as he spots it on the ground. He is also careful when picking up the golden band, but nothing happens when he picks it up. He puts it back in his bag and looks over at the person who had most certainly saved his life. He hadn't ever seen the person before, that he could recall, but he still felt a strange sense of kinship to him.

The man had long, slightly wavy black hair that brushed his shoulders and startling green eyes, slightly darker than Lily and Harry's eyes (which were a shade of green he hadn't ever seen until seeing Lily, and then Harry. He had met Lily's parents briefly before and neither of them had the kind of green eyes she did.) The man wore a white shirt with no sleeves and blue jeans that looked in pretty good shape considering the dirt and everything else in the place and black shoes. If he hadn't seen the magic the man had did and felt hints of the man's magic, then he almost would have thought him a Muggle. Almost. There was too much that exuded from the man that you would never mistake him for anything but a Wizard. And really Sirius couldn't blame him for dressing so; it was hot in the ruins; stuffy and oppressive and the less clothing in here in the better. And he himself wore Muggle clothing as well; when going through ruins and places where lots of Muggles gathered, it would be stupid to not try and blend in, especially when one was trying to be inconspicuous.

The man raises an eyebrow at him. "Got your fill of staring?"

Sirius startles, flushing slightly. "Uh, yes. I didn't mean-"

The man waves a hand carelessly. "It's of no matter to me; don't worry about it. But I'd suggest coming this way before more of the Guardians appear; they can get nasty." He waves a hand at the door near him, which was at the end of the hallway. He starts to turn but pauses for a moment, looking at Sirius who was standing there, brows furrowed. "I mean you no harm, boy. If I did, I would have burnt you to a crisp along with those statues."

He takes in a quick breath, letting it out as he follows the man inside the door. The man had a good point. He follows the man quickly inside and lets out a breath of appreciation as he enters. It was beautiful. The walls were not carved as with the outside, but painted. Various colors spread over the walls in different portraits and paintings. A marble table took up residence in the middle of the room, beautifully carved, with the ends carved into what would have easily been mistaken for real eagle claws, if not for the color of the marble. Chairs also carved as wonderfully stood on either side of the table, though these looked of softer material than the marble thankfully.

He pauses in step as he enters deeper into the room, spotting statues on either side of him. The man seems to notice and gives a wry smile. "Don't worry, I've rendered them inert." He walks over to one of the statues nearest him and knocks on it a few time. Sirius winces, expecting something, anything. Nothing does. After a few tense moments, and a deep breath of courage, he continues inward. The man gestures for him to take a seat. As he does he notices a small chest in the corner of the room.

"Treasure hunting?" he asks.

The man turns and raises a brow, looking to where Sirius points. He smiles that wry smile again. "Something like that, yes." He heads over to a small table where a pot of tea sat, pouring some into a couple of glasses that also sat there. "Been a long time since I've done any long traveling like this. Feel a bit rusty." Rusty? After the skills Sirius seen? He had _never _in his, admittedly not super long life, seen an Incendio spell used like _that_. That was a thing of beauty. He murmurs a quick thanks as the man hands him the tea. It was warm and smelled wonderfully. He sniffs it for a moment, half wondering if he should mutter a quick spell to see if it was alright but dismisses the thought as quickly as it comes. As the man said, if he had wanted Sirius dead, he certainly would be. That spell would have certainly done the trick (though he wondered why the surrounding area it hit didn't seem so affected.)

"So you've done a lot of traveling then?" he asks, trying to think of something to polite to say to the man who had saved him. The guy didn't _look _that old, but that didn't necessarily mean anything, as wizards were longer lived that Muggles were.

"Some." the man says, taking the seat opposite Sirius, blowing at his tea a bit. He knew the man was a British man from the accent, though he couldn't place _where_ in Britain the man was from. "Did a lot of it in my youth and then some years later. It's been...interesting. You can be surprised what you find, which is part of the fun and adventure."

Sirius makes a small noise of assentment and takes a sip of his tea, nearly sighing in pleasure at the taste. It had a wonderful taste of mint, with a nice aftertaste of lemon. It reminded him of some of the teas that he had had as a child when his mother had been in one of her better moods and had made a cuppa for both of them, talking generally about her day.

A thought occurs to him and he nearly slaps himself in the forehead for it. "I've never even asked your name. Merlin, but I can be an idiot sometimes. It's at least proper to give your name to the man who you owe a Debt t-"

The man snorts. "Debt? Don't worry about that." Sirius' eyes widen. Did he just say forget the Debt? He was annuling the Wizards Debt? A Wizards Debt was a huge deal and all who were on the side where they would gain something in return _never _turned down the opportunity to get something out of it. Never. And the man was just dismissing it like it meant little to him. Did the man not know what it meant...?

"Are you sure? A Wizards Debt is..."

The man snorts again, rolling his eyes, as he sits back in his chair, almost lazily. "I know quite well what a Debt means, boy. And I have no need for it."

Sirius bites his lip, still looking hesitant. "If you're sure."

"I am."

"Then at least let me tell you my name, so you can know the name of the man who holds great gratitude for the person who saved his bloody behind. I'm Sirius, Sirius Black."

He starts to take another sip of his tea when the man speaks again. "Then I suppose it only fair to tell you mine. I am Salazar Slytherin; but you may call me Salazar."

He spits his tea everywhere.

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He stares at the man. _Stares_. He knew he shouldn't be so shocked or surprise. Obviously the man was Confunded or having fun in teasing Sirius. To say something like _that_. Certainly enough people named their children after the Founders of Hogwarts, but to say he was Salazar _Slytherin_. That was...

"I'm not Confunded, boy. I may be old but I certainly have all my wits about me." The man says. He couldn't call him Salazar, that would just feed into the man's fantasies that he was one of the Founders. "I knew it wouldn't be easy believing that. And I have much more respect for you now than if you had believed me immediately; that would have been foolish. Caution is a good trait to have, even for a Gryffindor."

His brows raise. "How do you...?"

"I know the look of one of Godric's House when I see it; even if your family was a family of Slytherin's through and through." At Sirius' continued staring, he sighs and rolls his eyes. "Here." He starts to hiss loudly and Sirius starts. That was _Parseltongue_, the language of snakes. Only Slytherin's direct line had ever had the ability to speak to snakes. And the only direct descendant that Salazar Slytherin had, other than Morfin Gaunt (as Dumbledore had told him) who was in Azkaban, was Tom Riddle (Lord Voldemort.) The man hisses, a real hiss, not the snakelike hissing of before. "Do I _look_ like Riddle, boy?"

The man had just _read his mind_. Effortlessly. Not for nothing, but Sirius wasn't that bad of an Occlumens. All of the Order had taken Occulumency training to strengthen their mind in case any of them was ever intercepted by the enemy. But this man had went through all of his defences as if they were made of butter. The man grabs Sirius' hand, looking at him intently.

"Here, boy. Black. Look into my mind. Tell me what you see."

Sirius wasn't the _best_ Legilimens by any stretch (Dumbledore was. He pointedly did not think of Snivellus' potent skill) but he wasn't terrible either. He had learned a lot more Legilimency skill over the five years he had been searching, as often leads didn't want to give up any information and he had had to invade their mind for the information instead, if Dumbledore wasn't there to do it instead. It made him nauseous afterwards to do so, but it was a necessary evil.

He looks into the man's eyes, murmuring "_Legilimens_." under his breath.

And he Saw.

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Minutes, hours, days, who knows, how long later, he comes up out of the spell, gasping for air for a few moments. He looks at the man who looked unruffled and calm.

Salazar Slytherin.

Holy mother of Merlin, but the man was.

He really _was_.

"But what are you? I mean..." Stunned was the understatement of the year, in Sirius' opinion. Of the past ten years. Of a hundred years. It felt like everything he knew was suddenly turned on its head. It didn't make any sense. Spellcasters or not, Wizards and Witches or not, no one was immortal. Well save Nicolas Flamel and his was only situational as he had the Philosopher's Stone and would only last as long as he had the Stone. But there was nothing else. Well there _were_ Horcruxes, but they were some of the darkest evil out there, as they ripped the _soul _apart, the grossest violation possble. And, as it said in the book (and from the bits he and Dumbledore had gleamed), people who made a Horcrux were noticible in how they felt, their auras, their magic, their look (which explained the decline of Tom Riddle's personality and look as he made a Horcrux. Then another. And another. And another...)

Slytherin had none of those signs or symptoms. He looked like a perfectly healthy young man; albeit a perfectly healthy young man who was in fact, if he was as old as he seemed to hint at, over a thousand years old.

"I am me." Slytherin says simply. "As to the rest of it...that is for another time, Sirius Orion Black. You came to these ruins for a reason. No one comes to this area for the _fun _of it."

He lets pass the man's speaking of his whole name; he hadn't told it to him but now knowing who the man was, he was not at all surprised that the man knew it. He takes the golden band carefully out of his bag, setting it on the table, letting the man take a look at it while he takes a few more sips of tea. His hand was shaking a bit, but that was to be expected. For news like _that _you would have to be _insane _not to feel anything about it.

"Hmph." Slytherin says, holding the band, turning it this way and that way. "Not bad at all for a fake. I'm rather impressed with Riddle..."

Sirius looks up from his tea, heart sinking in his chest. A fake? After everything he had went through? All the traveling, the invading, the sacrifice, the nearly losing his life...over a fake item? "Are you sure?"

"Quite sure. I've seen the real Diadem, remember. Rowena, on the other hand, will not be happy hearing about the fake..." He shrugs his shoulders. "I told her, but she is stubborn."

Rowena.

Ravenclaw.

Well...he supposed he should have expected as much.

"Well if you know the real deal, then maybe you can help me find the real one." Sirius says. He wasn't sure what motivation Slytherin had here, but he was obviously here for a reason. He doubted Slytherin would come to a ruin like this that was so out of the way for no reason.

Slytherin makes a small noncomittal noise, looking towards the chest in the corner of the room that Sirius had forgotten about and the lid flies open as something flies from its depths into the Founder's hand. Sirius looks on, more than impressed. The man had did that wandlessly. Wandless magic wasn't _unheard_ of, but it was usually found in children who hadn't gotten to the age to get a Wand yet, who did things instinctively. And even when it was seen in adults, it was minute things that didn't last long. Slytherin, however, had summoned something that was inside something else, from a fair distance away. And he didn't even break a sweat.

The older man held a golden band that seemed to shine within and Sirius knew immediately the difference in the items. That was the real Diadem. He hands it over to Sirius and the younger man pockets it carefully in his Mokeskin bag, making sure it was secure where it was; he didn't want another incident like earlier where an item came tumbling out.

"Where'd you get this? Or did you bring it?"

"Found it. It's why I came to the ruins. Took awhile to find the place, especially since I had to come here from Albania." Slytherin says, idly turning the fake Diadem in his hands. "It had been there for awhile, but it looks like Riddle moved it fairly recently and it ended up here. Did you like them by the way?"

Sirius raises a brow at him. What did the man mean now? He was certainly mysterious enough all right...

"The notes I sent you. The Potter's like having another Secret-Keeper?"

Sirius lets out an exclamation. "You-!" He starts sputtering and Slytherin lets out a hearty laugh.

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A/N: So! Now you know who both sent the notes and who saved Sirius. XD Salazar will be playing a role in the story beyond this, though I won't say how much or how little or when he'll be around. :P Next chapter we should be seeing more of the Potters and maybe some other things as well. We'll see! :P

I hope you enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

-PhoenixJustice


	11. Forward

Time Paradox Revolution

by: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros and people who aren't me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for future sexual content, language, violence, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, James/Lily, etc.

Setting: Post-Deathly Hallows, then pre-Sorcerers/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

A/N: To a couple people asking: The Sirius/Harry will happen, but not _immediately._ This is going to be dealing with a bit more slow burn/build-up. I hope people are liking the story so far, because honestly? It's been one of my favorite things to work on in a long time. I like the build-up, the world building, and things like that in this. I like being able to go more in-depth.

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Chapter Eleven - Forward

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He was restless.

That isn't to say he resented his family. He didn't. To have them safe and whole meant everything to him. To be able to see his son slowly grow up was a blessing that he knew he wasn't supposed to have. To be able to grow and mature, to treat Lily to the things she deserved. He couldn't complain about his life overall, but still...he was restless.

Years as virtual prisoners in their (admittedly) nice home was starting to wear at him. He understood the reasoning for the long time away from most people; Voldemort was still out there somewhere-mind you no sign of him had been seen in many years but still, that didn't mean anything. They couldn't take very many risks where Voldemort was concerned; that's when people ended up dead. He knew these things. And he wasn't about to go out and do something _foolish_ but he wanted something _more_. Before he drew his wife and son up the wall with his pacing upon their living room floor.

If Sirius were home he'd talk it out with him; Sirius understood. Not that Lily didn't. He was sure that she was getting tired of being cooped up so long as well, but she was not so, er, _blatant, _about it. James was sure that she, and the House-Elves, didn't appreciate the "creative" trimming he did to the hedges (though it was worth both Lily _and _the House-Elves' scolding to see the big grin on his son's face.) He was just sad Sirius didn't get back in time to see the hedges before Lily and the House-Elves fixed them back. Especially with that elf bent over with that-

Anyway. Restless. He needed someone to talk to, to try and figure something out. And it wasn't like Sirius was his _only_ best friend.

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He knew he looked a bit under the weather, but he often did (especially this close to the full moon). Other than that he felt in generally good spirits. Remus sips at his tea, silently thanking the House-Elves who, he was sure, had fixed the tea James had "made" before it got served as James made some of the worst tea Remus had ever drank. It was like a running joke, really. One he knew Sirius also appreciated and would appreciate once he returned home. He missed Sirius greatly. That wasn't to say that he didn't enjoy James, Lily, and little Harry's company because he did very much. But it always felt like their group, their little family, wasn't complete when one of them was away for a long period. Sirius was the one often away now. Before it had been Remus; always traveling, both to try and find work (as his condition made it hard to find someone who wanted to hire him. Even he was safe the other days of the month) and doing things for Dumbledore.

Sirius, on the other hand, was often like a ghost at Potter Manor, for as often as he left. He knew he left for good reason and he marveled that Sirius had matured as much as he had. Of course Sirius would _always _be a ham and have his fun, as that was his nature, but he also lost a lot of the immaturity he had as a teenager. It made him glad that they had the opportunity to patch their friendship back up, that Voldemort hadn't been able to take either of them from the other at least before they became best friends, brothers, again. He just wished that Sirius would leave so often on his own; he worried for him and would have felt better if he was there to help, at least more of the time. But Sirius had decided to take the burden mostly upon his shoulders. He knew Sirius felt guilty about the Secret Keepers and what _could_ have happened. What _would _have happened, if not for the intervention of a desperate young man who wanted to try and set things right.

He wondered often about the future Harry Potter, apart of a future that no longer existed; or at least, a future Harry Potter who would never be part of the past that he had gambled everything on. He wondered if that Harry regretted his choices at all. He hoped not. But he didn't think he did. Who would wish ill on his parents and a small child, after all?

"Ugh! This is _salt_, not sugar!" James says, spitting out a good chunk of his tea.

Remus snorts. Apparently the House-Elves had left James' tea as he had made it. They did it often, hoping he'd get the hint and either stop making tea or would improve on his tea making. Neither ever happened.

"Oh, thanks, Moony. Beat a man while he's down, while don't you! Good tea ruined!" James sniffles. Remus merely rolls his eyes, hiding a smile on his face. James was as good as Sirius was at improving his mood. James waves his wand, clearing the tea out of the cup. A House-Elf (Rikey, his mind reminded him) takes the tea and instantly comes back with another cup of warm tea. "Thank you, Rikey. Don't know how the salt was in there, but I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

The small House-Elf gives a bow and pops out of the room, probably lamenting the fact that he knew it was only a matter of his time before his Master decided to try and make another pot of tea again.

"So what did you want to talk about, James?" Remus asks, getting more settled in his chair after that little funny display was over. "You sounded a bit..."

"Like what?"

"Full of nervous, pent-up energy."

"Yeah, that's precisely the problem. I can't begrudge the fact that me and my family are probably better protected than anyone right now, but it's been _years_, Remus. I want to be able to go to the market, or Diagon Alley. I want to be able to take my wife to a nice restaurant or shopping and I want to let my son see the world properly. His life shouldn't be short-selled just for a little bit of extra security." He rubs at his eyes wearily. "I want to see him enjoy the world."

He sets his tea down with a frown. "I know it isn't easy, but-"

"If you say "but hang in there", Moony, so help me..."

"_But_," he continues. "I'm sure there's something we can do. In the very least we can speak to Albus. He would probably have the best idea of how to continue that train of thought."

James smiles. "What would I do without you, Moony?"

"You would have flunked out of Hogwarts."

"Oi!"

He laughs.

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"Outside, my boy?" Dumbledore asks, arranging his robes a bit as he takes a seat in one of the other armchairs in the living room. He knew the man was busy, almost always so (especially because of Voldemort and his followers, the Death Eaters), so he had thanked the man for coming by-which the man promptly waved off, saying he didn't need any thanks to see friends.

"I know it's probably a stupid request. And I'm not trying to sound ungrateful for what you and everyone else does, but Albus," he says, marveling that he had became so close to _Albus Dumbledore_ that he could call him by his first name. "I am starting to lose it. I'm driving Lily and the House-Elves bonkers. You should have seen the hedges. I thought Lily's face would burst into flames from being so red!"

Dumbledore chuckles. Then turns more serious. He takes a long sip of his tea, looking thoughtful as he sets it down. "Certainly there are risks involved, but I can also understand your need to want to give your family a more enriched life."

"How exactly _are_ things looking?" James asks. "I know Voldemort hasn't been seen in a long time. I doubt the evil old thing is dead, though one can always hope, but about the Death Eaters?"

"Many have been captured. Oddly enough many have also been found dead. The ones we've captured, we've gained _some _intelligence from. We do not know Voldemort's possible location, if he is still alive (and I am certain he still is), but from what we've gathered some kind of event took place. Enough to _frighten _the Death Eaters and scatter them. Even Voldemort at his least terrifying has _frightened _his followers but they would never _scatter_. They dare not risk the ire of their Master."

"Maybe one of them told old snake face his feet smelled or something."

They all, save Albus, jump at the voice.

"Siri!" "Sirius!"

Sirius walks into the living room...flanked by another man.

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Remus and James look confused at the stranger's appearance. Albus, meanwhile, looks like he has just seen a ghost.

"Albus?" Remus asks. "Are you alright? What is..." He trails off. There was something about the stranger, the man with the black hair and green eyes. It _radiated_ off of him. He had never felt it, smelled it, that potently on anyone. _Magic_. The man was _covered _with it.

"Sirius, who is this?" James demands. He wasn't _trying _to sound rude, but when you're in hiding from a megalomaniacal wizard bent on killing you and your family (oh, and that whole domination of everyone thing), it made you a bit more cautious than before. Even if sometimes you just wanted to run down the street in circles just to let off some of your nervous energy.

Albus was unusually quiet. His eyes turn to Sirius for a moment.

"I found him in Egypt." Sirius says, hand fiddling with some kind of bag on his side.

The man snorts. He was a bit taller than Sirius, leanly muscled. He wore jeans that were scuffed and caked with a bit of sand and dirt, a white tank top and plain looking black shoes. All in all like a Muggle, though the man gave off too much of a vibe to be anything _but _a wizard.

"Found me. Like I was in a chest." The man says, rolling his eyes.

"You know what I mean!"

"But how can you..." Albus says, finally speaking up. If he didn't know better, he would have said that the man looked _faint_ but this was _Albus (many middle names) Dumbledore!_ Someone like that didn't just get faint. And if they did, it would have been for a _damn _good reason.

"Ah, so you know of me. You must be Headmaster of Hogwarts or were a former Headmaster." the man says.

The man didn't recognize Albus? Who _didn't _know who Albus Dumbledore was?

Albus nods. "I am the current Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore."

The man raises a brow. "Ahh, of course. Excuse me. I know who you are, of course, but you reminded me of a Dumbledore I knew many years ago; you look remarkably like him."

"Well, okay that tells us you know who _Albus _is, but doesn't tell us who _you_ are!" James exclaims.

The man smirks. Sirius rolls his eyes at the smirk, something with Remus notes. They seemed to be pretty well acquainted with one another, even though it couldn't have been long that they've known each other (since Sirius hadn't been in Egypt for _that_ long.)

"I am Salazar Slytherin. It's nice to meet you all." The man says, smirking again.

You could have heard a pin drop in the room with how quiet the room gets.

"E-excuse me?"

Remus looks at Sirius, expecting a grin, a laugh, something to go with the obvious joke. But he looked-no pun intended-serious. He nods at Remus.

"He is. I looked into his mind. I Saw him. He's...the real deal."

It was quiet. But then-

"Uncle Sirius! You're home!" the pitter patter of small feet come into view as Harry runs in, unknowing of the tense atmosphere, running up to Sirius, smile wide on his little face. Sirius smiles gently, kneeling down, ruffling Harry's hair.

"Hi, runt. Been driving your dad up the wall like I told you to?" Sirius asks, grinning.

"Hey!"

Remus notices Lily walk in during this exchange, smiling at her son and Sirius' little exchange. He knew she was as happy as the rest to get Sirius back home, at least for a little while (hopefully) and knew how excited little Harry was to see Sirius back.

"So will you read me my new story now? I've been waiting _forever._" Harry complains.

They all laugh.

"Sure." Sirius says easily. "But first, come meet my new friend. He helped me a lot while I was gone."

Salazar kneels down like Sirius and hands out his hand. Harry, after looking at Sirius who nods, shakes his hand. The man smiles gently at Harry.

"It's nice to meet you, Harry Potter. I'm Salazar."

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After reading Harry his new story that he had waited _oh so long _for him to read (for children, _any _time is a long time when they have to wait) and doing voices for the characters in the story book, he closes the door to Harry's room, letting James and Lily say their goodnights to their son. He heads back into the living room where the rest were sitting.

He knew they were all in shock and completely understood that reaction. It would have been shocking to see someone _not _shocked at seeing someone whom was supposed to be dead over a thousand years ago. There were a lot of questions, he knew, but many of those he himself still did not know. But what he _did_ know was that the man seemed like he truly wanted to help them out. Not for any sort of monetary compensation or anything like that, that Sirius could tell, but still he wanted to help. And honestly, with someone like _that_ at their side, he couldn't say no to the help. And hoped that the rest of them would feel the same.

They had gotten out of the ruins in one piece and pretty much unscathed. More statues awakened and tried to hunt them down but a few more of those well placed (and powerful) fire spells Salazar wielded quickly took care of them. Thinking of the ruins makes him remember why he went there in the first place. He waits until James and Lily come back in and then undoes the ties, and spells, on his bag, conjuring a table and carefully placing the Diadem on it.

They all look at it curiously. Albus leans in closer, a gleam in his eyes. "So this is the fabled Diadem of Lady Ravenclaw. So you found it."

"Actually, I didn't find it first," Sirius says. He points where Salazar was, sitting lazily back in his own chair. "He did. Also helped me out of some big scrapes. I wouldn't be here right now if not for him."

Salazar shrugs. Shrugs, like doing all those huge spells weren't anything special. Then again, to someone like him, maybe they weren't. "I just happened to get there earlier. Having a bit of knowledge always helps. I'll have to thank Rowena when I see her."

"Rowena?" James says faintly, sitting back in his own chair. "As in?"

"Yeah, apparently she's around too." says Sirius. He was still a bit shocked about that, but not as much as the others in the room; at least he had had more time to digest it on his way back here.

"So does that mean...?" James trails off.

"You are wanting to know if the rest are around?" Salazar asks no one in particular, as it seemed to be the question on pretty much everyone's tongue but his own. "Most assuredly. Though I have not seen Godric in quite some time."

"Um..." Lily starts, jumping slightly when Salazar turns to her. "I have a question. No offence meant, of course, but...we've all heard tales about you. About why you left Hogwarts. That you had a falling out with Gryffindor and the rest."

Salazar says nothing, raising a brow, letting her continue.

"That you hate-hate Muggleborns." she says, looking like she was doing her best not to look down at his intense gaze.

He laughs. Not loudly enough to disturb Harry who was sleeping, but nevertheless laughs.

"Is that what they say of me? Truly? Why in Merlin's name would I hate Muggleborns? How would we get new blood and more wizards and witches born? Certainly not from all the inbreeding purebloods like to do." He snorts, shaking his head. "Hate muggleborns. That is truly funny."

"Then you don't...?" Lily asks, quietly.

"No." he says. "Nor do I hate Muggles. Where this idea came about, I have no clue. But other things I _can _tell you, if you wish to listen."

After getting nods from everyone involved, he sits back, making himself more comfortable, seemingly pleased with all the attention.

"I can tell you a few things. Some you can learn later, if I, or someone else wishes to tell you. But a few things I can, and will, tell you now. Let me tell you about Hogwarts in its beginnings..."

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TBC.

A/N: Hee! Sorry for the cliffhanger here (or am I? XD) but I felt it good to end it here. Next chapter we will be getting some information on Salazar and his departure from Hogwarts and possibly the location of the next Horcrux.

I hope you enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

-PhoenixJustice


	12. Unknown

Time Paradox Revolution

by: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros and people who aren't me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for future sexual content, language, violence, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, James/Lily, etc.

Setting: Post-Deathly Hallows, then pre-Sorcerers/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

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Chapter Twelve - Unknown

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Something had happened. And those who wondered about what had just happened, were apparently going to keep wondering, because the ones who _knew _what happened? Well they refused to talk. Something had scared even the most elite of Death Eaters. They, at least, were the ones better off the the ones on the lower totem poles; some of them had been left gibbering messes, only able to mutter nonsense or scream. And scream they did. Something they had seen was so horrific that it had left them in the state they were in. St. Mungo's was starting to get overflowed with cases, and all the while there was the question of; what is causing all of this?

The ones who _were _still able to function somewhat properly said it wasn't He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He was not the cause of this. But if not the most Dark, most Evil, Lord that had been around didn't do this, then what _did_? Was this apart of the Dark Lord's plans somehow? They could be lying about his involvement. There was, after all, only so much veritaserum they get and use on someone at a time, and there were a lot of people who needed to be talked to. If they were able to function well enough to speak, that is...

The unknown was the scary thing. And both St. Mungo's and the Auror Division were having a field day trying to figure out just what was going on.

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Even with the continuing news of all the people being discovered in such a state didn't stop Pureblood society. They were used to dealing with all sorts of things, and to deal with it in the most sensible way (they thought.) News such as this would not keep the people down. There were always things to attend, both charity and personal, people to meet, to mingle, to get to know contacts better, all of that. Death Eater mingled with non-Death Eater, or people on the fence. People made nice, they smiled their false smiles and they pretended to be friends. All in all...the usual.

Narcissa hated it.

Oh, she certainly didn't _at first_, because at least in the beginning it felt like there were more genuine people out there for her to talk to. There wasn't _as _much of Purebloods mingling with only themselves, at least not all the time. After all, many influencial Wizards and Witches of the time were Halfbloods or even Muggleborn. They were all the rave at parties and the spectacles at such events always made her smile. Being the then girlfriend, then fiance, and finally wife, of someone of the stature of Lucius Malfoy gave her the opportunity to meet all sorts of eccentric people and she loved it. Of course her family, the Blacks, were also well known families and had their own circles in society, but it was a different sort of animal when she was invited by way of Malfoy.

She adored Lucius, loved him more than she thought it possible to love another person, despite what the gossip sometimes said. Her and Lucius had never gotten together for money, or stature, or position of power. She would have married him if he were penniless; he the same for her. They had married for love, which sadly was becoming less of a reason why people married. She saw more and more marry for power or whatever other reason, and was thankful that they had not married for that reason.

With Lucius she got to see purebloods, muggleborn, halfbloods, and even muggles in the know, mingling, talking, enjoying. Saw a troup of vampire acrobats juggle flaming swords with a grin on their face, saw a lycanthrope transform into a mighty lion then into a little housecat to the amusement of the crowd. She saw many things.

And then _he_ appeared. Lord Voldemort. He was charming to all, cunning, ruthless, many things. He snared many in his web of talks of how they deserved better, how this was like this, how that was like that. He was a smooth talker and held sway over many people.

Narcissa wasn't impressed. Not in the ways that mattered to someone like the Dark Lord. Oh she feared, she knew the power he wielded (had seen it in person against many a people), and she respected that power. But she did not like it. The wave of fear and power that he was gaining over many scared her. Even the bigger families were moving to obey him, to kneel at his feet like little lap dogs. She could see the writing on the wall. The Malfoy's were a big family in Wizarding society, one of the biggest, so everyone was waiting to see how they would go. And she knew what the response would be if it was _no_.

"Lucius-"

"I have to, love. The man's power...you've seen it. You've witnessed the horrors just like I have. I can't go against that kind of power. Especially when I have my family to think of." He pulls her close, hugging her tightly. "And I will do anything and everything to protect the things I love. Even this." He pulls back, holding her face tenderly as he looks at her, white blonde locks mingling with hers and he leans forward. "I swore when you said _yes_ to me, that I would protect you. Do you trust me?"

She looks up into the face of the person she loved most and nods, tears gathering in her eyes. "Always. I only fear the kind of life that we will bring our son into."

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This party was a celebration in many ways. It was both Harry's seventh birthday as well as them officially coming back out to the Wizarding world, and society, as a whole. After all that time, that waiting, that worrying, it was deemed safe enough to go out into the world again. Slowly, here and there, after speaking with Albus before, they started to venture out of their house and into the village, reintegrating themselves back into the village. Everyone was warm and inviting and they definitely understood _why_ they had kept to themselves like they had for so long. No one blamed them for it; they would have done the same to protect their child and themselves from someone like He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Speaking of You-Know-Who, he had not been heard of in nearly six years. At first there was much unrest in the Wizarding world. Unsure of just what was going on, what You-Know-Who was up to. There was unrest. And wasn't until the Ministry finally officially spoke that people started to feel safer; Death Eaters captured or killed, no You-Know-Who around in years! nothing to fear dear people! said the Minister. It was safer than it had been for a long time and slowly, over time, people started to relax a bit more. The Ministry were still being vigilant and keeping an eye on things, said the Minister, so people needed to start to go out and _live_ properly again!

Mind you, the word of Cornelius Fudge the Minister of Magic, wasn't what made them feel safe enough to leave the safety of their house, the place where their child had lived so much of his life in already, no that was the word, and power, of Albus Dumbledore, Salazar Slytherin (who had pledged that day when telling them his tale, to protect them and to help them see the end of this evil), and of course Sirius. Sirius who had been vigilant since his first day of searching to find, and destroy, the Horcruxes of Lord Voldemort. Just _how _they were going to destroy them was still up in the air. The important thing, right now, was in finding them.

And keeping them out of enemy hands.

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"So what's next on the list?"

"Hm. Well we know he's keen on items related to the Founders."

"Yeah. And I imagine you guys didn't leave _too_ many relics lying around. Other than yourselves."

"Ha ha, very funny Black. You can see the tears in my eyes from the giggles."

"Oh, shut it. Only one of us is funny and it isn't you, snake-boy."

"Snake boy? If anything, _boy_, you'll shut-"

"You'll _both_ shut up if you know what it good for you."

"Yes, ma'am." "...yes."

Rowena snorts, sitting back in her chair. "That's more like it. Seriously, why do all men act like such children? I swear, Godric is just as bad."

Salazar's lips thin, eyes glaring dangerously. "I wouldn't know."

Rowena merely rolls her eyes, all too aware of her friend's temperament, as he was to her and they were to Godric and Helga and vice-versa. "You would, if you weren't such a stubborn old fool who-"

"That's enough, Rowena." Salazar says. He looks away, his eyes much more haunted than before. "Please."

There were few things that could ever get Salazar Slytherin to say please, and she knew the reason for this one. She let it go.

"So," she continues, as if that moment never happened. "My diadem has been recovered, but there's still a few _relics_," she looks at Sirius. "We left in the world as a whole. We can assume that he has made at least 3 Horcruxes. Four, if he's found anything else of ours."

Four Horcruxes. The act it took to make _one_ and the result it left on the person and their body and soul was _horrendous_ and the fact that Riddle made _more_ was horrifying. Even the darkest and most evilest of creatures never dared to push that much farther. They at least had enough sense not to push the boundary of soul like that.

"Helga's Cup," Salazar pipes up, looking a bit more at ease than he did moments before. "Something of mine...there is the toss-up. On what he both found and which it could be. With...with _him_ it feels like it'd be his sword. It's nice and it's very _obviously _his."

"Perhaps..." Sirius looks down at his watch. "Shit, is that the time already. I gotta go. Harry's birthday party."

Salazar looks at the clock on the mantle. He wasn't too keen on being here but Rowena had assured him, in her dry sarcastic way of hers, that Godric had been gone for awhile and wouldn't be back for awhile. Too busy looking for _him_ and yes, she wouldn't get in their way of...missing each other. At least not yet (not that Salazar needed to know that-the damned fool would just run off again and she really didn't feel like putting extra effort in to hunt him down.)

"Hn. You're right. Best be off then." he starts to get up too, looking like he was trying not to look around more. She was sure he was curious about the place, since it was actually Godric's and not hers, but she decided to refrain from teasing him just yet (she knew that, for all that it had been such a long time, the wounds were still fresh and would never really heal within him. Either of them. Stubborn old fools.)

She gets up as well. "I'll go with you. I suppose it's time I go and meet the Potters too then, since you've already pulled me in this far."

"Oh, Rowena. I'm touched." Salazar says sarcastically.

"Shut it, snake-boy."

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To say she was nervous was an understatement. It had been a long time and there were definite nerves there. They were all on edge for the longest time. The news and reports of people going mad and many other worst things besides kept filling the Daily Prophet. She worried. She worried for her husband and she worried for her son. Lucius had been in the thick of things for a long time now, out of necessity to protect his family, and that left him vulnerable. So he had acted arrogant, paid off people, done many shady things to keep things looking on the outside as they should be for a Death Eater family.

But she, they, kept those things from their young son, Draco, as best as they could. They wanted to give him as best of a life as they could. They'd project all sorts of things to the outside, but in the inside, of their home, is where they could be themselves and where they treated Draco as he deserved to be treated. She hated the times she'd have to play up her pureblood heritage, to make it look like she looked down upon others. But there had been no other way. Until now.

No sign, no nothing, of the Dark Lord in years. _Years_. Only the people going mad, the Death Eaters in his employ losing their sanity. Even that hadn't been enough to sway Lucius to put down his guard. Nor her, really. But Sirius had. She hadn't spoken to her cousin in years. On two opposing sides, there had been no way (without bloodshed) so she had did her best to keep away from him and the Potters and to keep them away from her, Lucius and Draco. He had spoken candidly about a few things, including which the fact that he was actively doing something which would, if successful, end the Dark Lord's life for good. And he already had the first piece to the puzzle in which to do it.

Still...nerves. She was quite nervous. She had been a bitch to many people and she wasn't sure just how she, or her family, would be taken. Especially given their past as Death Eaters. She jumps as a hand touches her shoulder and she looks up to see her husband looking at her exasperatedly.

"Calm down. It'll be alright." he says soothingly, though she could see the nerves in him too. She knew he had to be just as nervous as she. After all, these people were ones they had essentially put down for years (whether they had actually meant it or not.) Plus their statuses as affliates of the Dark. She could only hope that Sirius had worked his magic and they would be...well, not murderous on first instinct would be good.

"Can we go in? I'm getting bored." says Draco suddenly.

Her and Lucius look down and laugh at their son, still laughing as the door opens.

"Welcome. It's nice to see you, Narcissa. Lucius. And you, of course, Draco." Lily smiles warmly at them.

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He couldn't wait. He was seven, Uncle Sirius was returning home, and he was about to meet a whole bunch of new people who he hoped would be his friends. Surely they would. He was nice, and polite (his mum and dad said so! And so did Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus!) and had a lots of cool toys. He was so excited!

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A/N: I know that you all are probably chomping at the bit about information about the Founders. Never fear, it will be coming!...in a side story. XD Well, bits and pieces will be talked about here some more probably. But the bulk of it is going to be worked into a side story. It will be multiple chapters as it deals with the beginning of Hogwarts and the like. Not sure who's POV it'll be in yet, but look for the first chapter soon-ish.

Next chapter we'll be dealing with the party and more! (Oh and the Narcissa popping up thing surprised me too. =P)

I hope you enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

-PhoenixJustice


	13. Birthdays

Time Paradox Revolution

by: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros and people who aren't me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for future sexual content, language, violence, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, James/Lily, etc.

Setting: Post-Deathly Hallows, then pre-Sorcerers/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

A/N: Some time skips this chapter.

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Chapter Thirteen -

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"Oh god, oh god."

"God? What do a god or gods have to do with _us_?" The voice purrs. "You should have known when being so audacious that this would happen."

"I-I didn't. I didn't know!"

"But you, _did_." It continues. "You knew what you wanted. You wanted people maimed, murdered. You _wanted_ it. Do not deny it."

"_Know your place in this world."_

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The party was in full swing and many families had come to celebrate both Harry's birthday and the Potters' official reentry back into the world at large. Purebloods, Muggleborn and half-bloods alike were meeting, talking, being around one another. For Narcissa, it was a sight that she had been afraid she would never see again. The fact that they were at this place in life was a gift she was determined not to take for granted. Sure, the fear of the Dark Lord was still there, but now life was starting to slowly move again and people were starting to _live_ again, truly live.

For Lucius, it meant the slightest amount of hope; something which he hadn't let himself truly feel in longer than he remembered. To even have the possibility of living in a world where his son could be safe, could live without fear, could live without oppression, for his wife not to worry, to be safe and whole, not to spend her nights awake and fearful that her husband might not return (thanks to the Dark Lord and his actions.) To be whole again. That meant everything to him.

For James, he was thankful that he had been able to live farther than he was originally supposed to; that he could be here now with his family, watch Harry grow, live and love Lily, to be a brother to Sirius and Remus. He would do whatever it took to keep his family safe. But that didn't mean that they weren't all allowed to try and _live _either.

For Lily, it meant the same. She would do whatever it took to stand side by side with her husband, to watch their son grow and become a man of his own. She was determined to do everything and everything to avoid the fate that she had once not. She would take this opportunity that her future son, the son no longer existed, gave her and her family and would see them safe. And her family extended to more than just her, James and Harry now; it included Remus and Sirius as well. Two people who had become the brothers she, and James as well, had never had.

For Remus, it meant everything to protect the people who had become his family. People who had accepted him without judgment; people who had even learned to transform themselves so he wouldn't be alone, so he would be calmer, safer, when he Changed. He would do everything to ensure his family would remain safe, that little Harry would not grow up in a world without them.

For Sirius, it meant so many things. It was a promise; a promise to the people who had become more of a family to him than his very own and a promise to the man whom he'd had only so briefly known but who had shown his courage in giving up everything to change his world for the better. He would never forget the sacrifices that that Harry had made and he'd do all in his power to make sure that the huge sacrifice he had made would not be in vain.

Which is why he was now searching for the fabled Horcruxes of Lord Voldemort. It had been one trial after another just getting to this point, getting to one, but he wouldn't let that stop him. He would continue until it was finished and Voldemort was dead for good. But he had to remind himself not to work at 200% all the time and forget the important things in life, the things which were the reason he was fighting to begin with.

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To say he was uncomfortable was a bit of an understatement, in his opinion.

People didn't forgive easily, at least those in the circles he ran in, those that were familiar to him.

In having been around those vultures for so long, it made it hard to remember what honest people were like; the fact that there still _were_ honest people around. But there were. The Potter's were certainly one of them. It was awkward, very awkward, to be around them considering everything. Considering they had once been on opposite sides. For different reasons, of course, but still. The fact that they could look at him, his family, without disgust, or glaring hatred, or anything of the sort truly surprised him.

To be in wholesome society again...it would take some adjusting. But he was a Malfoy, and Malfoy's never failed.

And to see his son in a world where he did not know the fear that engulfed the adults, the fear where it shook them, held them, crushed them? He would do anything, _anything_, to protect his family. Whether that be sit at the feet of a certifiable megalomaniac or to wage war on the opposite side. Malfoy's always picked the winning side.

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After awhile Lily brings out Harry's cake; after the kids playing, adults talking, and present opening, the biggest part was coming up. She was proud of how it turned out; she didn't often bake as she didn't think she was too good at it, but she had had help from the House Elves as well as Remus (who turned out to be quiet a good baker himself) and the result was a three layered chocolate cake with white icing, that greatly resembled Hogwarts in Wintertime. She smiles as the kids ooh and ahh over it; Harry himself was all but bouncing in his seat, ready to have at it.

"Wow, you outdid yourself, Lil!" James said, kissing his wife on the cheek as she carefully places the cake on the table where everyone was seated.

"You really did, Lily." Molly says, with a smile.

Everyone gathers close.

"Make a wish, Harry."

Harry closes his eyes and blows hard at the candles.

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"Happy birthday, Harry!"

Everyone claps and Harry smiles as he blows out the candles.

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"So what did you wish for, Harry?"

"Don't tell her, Harry! If you say what you wished for, then it won't come true."

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"Sirius said he's sorry that he couldn't be here on your birthday, Harry. He had something very important he had to take care of. "

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"Jeez. Harry is ten already. Ten! Where the hell did the time go? Searching for more shite, I tell you."

"Leads take time, Black. And they don't always pan out."

"Pff. Some legendary historical figure you are!" Sirius grins, standing up and stretching. They were in the midst of some roman ruins that had just been discovered-by them-in a forest. Sirius wasn't surprised that no one had found it until now; the magical wards, spells, enchantment and other things on it were very formidable indeed. Indeed, no Muggle would never have run across it no matter if they looked for it for a hundred years or more. "But, yeah I know. It's just frustrating. Especially when I have to spend time running through a jungle away from the wildlife or trying my best not to get decapitated by a angry mechanical...thing when I could be spending it with my family."

They were on the outside of the entrance to the ruins. Although they had managed to take down, after a long time, the wards and the like that were on the entrance, there were even greater ones just inside. Ones that even Salazar himself couldn't handle on his own. That spoke volumes of just how much time and effort was spent in this place versus the place the Diadem had been held. Rowena said something about it probably being due to him having more time to work on this place, as he might have been in a great hurry in the Egyptian Temple; that, or "he just didn't care all that much about my stuff. Either way."

So that was why Rowena was inside the building and Salazar was on the outside; something about Salazar being a "conduit" or something to that effect. They used a lot of big words that made his head hurt so he stayed out of it and let them get to it. He trusted them, after all. They had proven themselves as trustworthy allies over the three or so years he had known them, after all.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Rowena finally appears out of the building, looking sweaty and exhausted.

"There," she pants. "It's done. Let us hope that there is nothing else that complex further in, or I won't be able to properly help; that taxed me more than I expected. I have to hand it to the crafty bastard; he certainly knows what he's doing. I haven't seen that complex a spell work in a very long time." And considering her and Salazar's ages, he knew what it meant when she said _long _time.

"Thanks, Rowena." Sirius starts, but she waves a hand at him.

They start to head down the stone steps and through the large doors that were the entrance of the place. They looked innocent enough, but Sirius knew if they hadn't have taken down the spells on them, that as soon as they tried to open them, it would have evicerated them instantly. It made him thankful that he had gained such great allies; there was no way he could have done this on his own and looking back he was surprised he had gotten as far as he had without help. The doors close with a loud finality and he hopes it isn't a sign of what's to come.

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The hallway is a stark contrast to the Egyptian ruins he visited when searching for the first Horcrux; those walls had been decorated with magnificent looking carvings, colored with beautiful murals. These walls were bare stone. Sirius was surprised Voldemort hadn't went with something more ostentatious, but then again, as crazy as the man was, as much as he had lost in continuing to mutilate his soul like he did, maybe he also lost any sense of real taste.

They come to a few twists and turns, heading this way and that way. No doors, no nothing. Eventually they come to an opening, leading into a large room. It was also empty. This room was not the bare stone, but it only held white walls covering it. Still, there was something about this room that gave him a bad feeling. Well everything was bad about the situation, considering what they were looking for, but this just felt like "more" and he had learned to listen to his instincts more over the years; they had helped save his life on more than one occasion.

The room was completely bare, save for a pedestal that was taller than it was wide. On it, was a large see through box. And inside it, clearly visible, was a small, golden cup. That had to be the Cup of Helga Hufflepuff.

"The Cup."

"I haven't seen that thing in such a long time." Rowena whispers. "The fact that it has been defiled by Riddle's hands-"

"I know, Rowena. I feel the same." Salazar says, moving to stand next to her. "It's a disgrace to something that stands for something much more."

Sirius moves to stand near them. "It seems simple enough, but considering it's Riddle we're dealing with, we better be very careful."

The first thing they do is check for magical residue; spells, enchantments, other things, around the pedestal itself. After feeling fairly certain there was none, they start checking the pedestal itself. Salazar and Rowena press and prod the pedestal as Sirius looks over the box itself. It was odd. The box itself was not very big and it was completely see-through, yet when Sirius peered over it, it was murky with dark water.

"Huh. Some kind of puzzle I'm not getting, I bet." he mutters. Why did everything have to be a headscratcher anyway? Sodding Riddle. He pokes cautiously at it with his wand, after muttering a few spells, but nothing happens. Maybe there was a key in here that opened up somewhere else? He wouldn't put it past the bastard. As he looks closer, he can just make out something shiny at the bottom of the box. "Huh. Guess the bastard thought of everything. Probably a false key or something." Still, nothing would be gained by him staring stupidly into the water. There were times for caution and there were times for chance; this was one of them. He knew the man liked to play headgames, so it would be just like the asshole to make it seem like more than it was.

He takes in a deep breath. "Here goes nothing."

"Here goes what?"

He places a hand deep into the water.

"Black!" "Sirius!"

And there was blackness.

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A/N: A cliffhanger! Uh...totally didn't mean for that to happen? xD

I hope you enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

-PhoenixJustice


	14. Madness

Time Paradox Revolution

by: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros and people who aren't me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for future sexual content, language, violence, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, James/Lily, etc.

Setting: Post-Deathly Hallows, then pre-Sorcerers/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

A/N: Some pretty messed up stuff in this chapter. Voldemort IS a crazy, megalomaniacal, evil bastard, remember... =/

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Chapter Fourteen - Madness

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Blackness.

That was easily the first thing he noticed. And not the kind of darkness you see when outside or laying down at night. Not the kind that will eventually let you start to make out shapes and things. No this was an absence of light. This was the kind of darkness that people spoke of when talking about darkness, _true _darkness.

"Hello? Salazar? Rowena? _Hello?_" His voice echoes around him.

Nothing.

"Fine then." he mutters. He clenches his wand tighter. "_Lumos_."

Instead of the beam of light he expects from his wand after saying the incantation, nothing happens. Nothing but the blackness; hell, he couldn't even see his hands in front of his face. He could hear himself at least, if only just. It sounded...not exactly muffled, but something to that effect.

He wanders for a few minutes. Or at least he assumes it's a few minutes. It was hard to get his bearings in a place like this. As he walks further into wherever _this _was, his voice seems to get a bit louder and echoes as he continues to call out for someone, anyone. He wondered what Rowena and Salazar were doing. If either of them had arrived here, he would have at least heard them, wouldn't he? In the very least, wouldn't he feel their magical signature? While it wasn't easy to do so, if you practiced at it, you could get a read on people's magical signatures. And if you were a bit more talented at it, like he was, you could get a _better _read on it. And with Salazar and Rowena's magical signatures being as completely huge as they were, it shouldn't be hard at all to pick up if they were near. And he didn't, so he had to assume that they weren't here.

Hell, what if they had done the same thing he had and ended up in different places? He wouldn't put it past the slimy bastard to put a spell or enchantment like that on it. He could only hope that they hadn't fallen into an even worse situation than he had. They had greater skill and magic at their disposal so he had faith that they could handle pretty much anything that came their way. He resolutely doesn't think of anything else as he continues to wander. If he dwelled too much on the people important to him, he could make a mistake. And in a situation such as this, a mistake could be deadly in the truest sense.

After awhile he wanders, he suddenly bumps into something, nearly falling over as he hits it.

"Hello? Didn't mean to hit you if I did." He says, moving his hand around a bit to feel what he just bumped into. "The damn place is so-" He stops as he realizes just what he's touching. Bone. Like a person kind of bone. He jumps back, hissing. "The hell?"

"Hello?"

He stops. That didn't sound like one of his echoes.

"Anyone there? I-I don't know where I'm at! Someone please come help!" a voice cries out desperately.

There _was _someone else here other than him! He starts to hurry towards where the voice was coming from. It seems to take forever but he finally gets near the source of the voice.

"Oh god, oh god! Someone else is here! I see you! I-oh god. _Oh god._ Don't come any closer! It's-"

"Hey, hey!" he says, waving a hand. "It's okay! I'm not gonna hurt you! I know it's dark and all; really, not sure how you can see _anything_ in this but maybe you-"

"W-What are you talking about? The place is completely lit up!"

He stops. "What? Of course it's not. It's completely dark! I tried everything to light up the place, but..."

"No. Sir, it's not...it's. It's completely lit up here. I can see the walls. Oh god, the paintings on them, as if they were painted in _blood_. It's horrifying. And you...you, sir. You're..."

He shakes his head. There had to be some mistake. Maybe they were dealt different things? Or? Or? _Or...?_

"Your eyes, sir...they're gone."

He lets out a sound. This person was _mad_. He could see just fine! They had to be in cahoots with Voldemort or just plain cruel, or...

He finds himself unable to stop his hands. They move slowly, so slowly. And then they touch his face.

There was nothing there. Nothing where the eyes should be.

He screams.

And knows true terror.

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_"_This can't be. This can't be, this can't be, this can't be, this_ can't be, THIS CAN'T BE!"_

_"_Calm down! You'll hurt yourself! Oh gods, it looks so horrible-"

It wasn't there. It just wasn't. It wasn't there and what could he do now? He was useless. More than useless. So useless to everything now...

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He laughs.

He cries.

He laughs again.

He clutches his face.

He sobs and curls in on himself.

He laughs louder and louder.

"Stop! Stop it! Stop laughing! Stop it! Stop it, stop it, stop it, STOP IT!" the voice screams and he laughs and laughs.

"But IT'S SO FUNNY! AHAHAHAHAHAH! JUST! ISN'T IT FUNNY!" he screams, laughing maniacally as he moves around and around the room he couldn't see.

He bumps against the person, clutching their shoulders, feeling them shake in the terror of it all. He clutches harder, laughter streaming out of his mouth all the while.

"BUT ISN'T IT FUN-"

A hit.

Laughter. Giggles, high giggles, in the background. Laughter not his own. Laughter that smelled of horror and blood.

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He awakens with a groan, clutching his head. The light burning his face, making him clench his eyes tighter.

Wait.

Eyes.

He opens his eyes, blinking rapidly against the light. The light. He could see it. He could _see it. _He touches his face and sobs in relief. They were there. Eventually the room comes into greater focus. And he wishes he hadn't looked. He clutches his stomach against the sudden bile rising in it.

The room was covered in gore. Littered with body parts and blood. Oh Merlin, so much blood. The room stank of death and the blood swimming in it. He could see fingers clutching a wall, nails dug in as they desperately tried to move, escape, anything to get away. Could see the entrails of one unfortunate person burst out of their stomach, a look of such terror on their face like he had never seen.

He does retch then, unable to help himself, retching as he looks upon the horror of everything around him. He had wanted to see again so very badly. Well, now he could.

He starts to move away and stops as he feels something clutching at his pant leg. He looks down and cries out. This person was still warm, no rotting. This must have been the person who had been in the room with him. Their skull was so crushed in, their body so mangled, that he could not tell if they were man or woman. He shakes, as he realizes the position the body had been in before he had moved. It had slid down and was still clutching him. It was in a position like it had been protecting him. Something had been here. Had done these things and this person had protected him. Had they been bad off already and thought he deserved a chance to get away?

He lets out a sob, teeth gritting. He touches the hand still clutching him and moves it away, setting in on the body. He kneels down. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Thank you for every-" he cuts off, shaking his head. He takes in and lets out a deep breath and gets up, moving as quick as he could through the carnage, wincing as he hears a squelch or burst as he steps on something he wished he hadn't. He finally spots a doorway and nearly sobs aloud with relief. He had to get out of here. There had to be an exit somewhere.

He nearly reaches the door, when he feels a tugging at his feet. He looks down and his eyes widen as he sees a twisted, rotting hand clutching at his foot. Then another does. And another. Then he hears the dead speak.

"Wait for me."

"Me!"

"Wait for usssssssss."

"WAIT!"

"I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE, I DON'T I DON'T I DON'T I DON'T-"

"Take us away from here!"

"Hate it. HATE YOU! Hate it. Killkillkillkillkill-"

"I want my mom!"

"Dad!"

"OH GOD IT HURTS IT HURTS."

"HELP US!"

He lets out a scream as more of the hands and arms move his way, crawling. Watch the nearly skeletal body of a person come crawling to him, arm outstretched. He gets pulled down and into the middle of the bodies.

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He gasps, looking around.

The blood, the bodies...all gone. All gone. Like there had been nothing there. Nothing. Well it had to have been a dream right? There was _nothing there! SO IT WAS A DREAM, RIGHT?!_

He puts his arms around his knees, rocking, sobbing. His eyes were here. It was okay. It was okay. It had to be okay. It had to. It had to. It had to-!

"Sirius!"

"There you are!"

He looks up and lets out a noise at seeing the faces of Salazar and Rowena. They looked fine. They were fine. Like he. He was fine. It was okay. It was okay. It was okay-!

Rowena kneels down near him, clutching his shoulder. "Are you alright?! We're so sorry we couldn't get here sooner. We ran into these monstrosities-"

Salazar shakes his head, frowning. "They were horrible. Parts falling out, mouth letting out this unnatural scream. So horrible."

"But you're okay, right?" Rowena asks, looking at Sirius in concern.

He shakes his head. "I'm. I'm? I'm okay. I will be. You two are okay, so it's okay. I'll...I'll be fine." He lets out a breath. "I'm just glad you got out of there in one piece."

"Who said we did?"

"Huh?"

He looks up and gasps. Their faces. They were melting away! He tries to scurry back but is held firm by Rowena's claw like grip.

"We didn't get away. They snatched us up and picked us clean like we were legs of a chicken. Want me to tell you how it sounded when Salazar's face was getting devoured or when my legs were broken clean off of me?" She leans in closer, face dripping onto him. "_Shall I, Sirius Black?"_

He screams. Her face, her skull, grins and moves in to bite him.

Crunch.

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He awakens with a start, looking around. It was quiet. It was calm. It was clean. There was no one around.

He sobs, curling up on himself. It hurt. Everything hurt! It hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt-

"Sirius."

He moans, clutching his head. The pain. The pain wouldn't stop. If he hit himself enough, would it go away? If he called fire, would it go away? If he just _laid down and __**died**__ would it go away?!_

"_Sirius!_"

He feels a hand touch him and he starts to shake.

"birdratdragondogsnakecat." he mutters, rocking where he lay. "the bird and the cat and it eats and it devours and it-"

"Sirius, stop! It's okay. It's okay. Please just stop. You're okay now. I promise."

He stops. That voice. Did he recognize that voice? Surely he did. That voice. That voice he heard. Not his, not theirs, not _theirs_. Different. Good. Different was good. It was different! It was-

"It's me, Sirius. Look at me. Come on, I'll help you up."

He slowly moves, getting help to sit up and looks.

"I'm here, Sirius. It's okay." Harry says, smiling gently at him.

Harry! Harry! Not the little Harry but the big one! The one who smiled so sadly at him before? It had to be that Harry, certainly. Certainly it was him.

"Harry," he chokes out. He feels tears at the corner of his eyes.

"I know. I know, Siri." Harry moves to hug him and he pulls Harry close, holding him tightly. No, this. This was okay. If he had to die, at least he got to properly hold Harry in his arms this time around.

Finally Harry moves away. He smiles sadly. "I'd love to stay here and hold you longer, but we have to go. I can't hold the things at bay much longer." He stands and holds out a hand. Sirius looks up at him for a moment, then clutches it like the lifeline it was.

He stands. He looks around. "I don't see any exit. I tried to find one, but..."

"I know." Harry says, looking at him. He holds onto Sirius' hand tightly. "It's okay. I've got the way out. Trust me?"

Sirius holds Harry's hand tightly in return. "Yes. About before..."

Harry shakes his head. "No time now. There can be time for that later." He moves closer to Sirius. "It may take time, but it's worth it. I promise it's worth it. Don't ever give up on me. Please."

Sirius shakes his head. "Never. I could never."

Harry looks up at him, tears in his eyes that threatened to spill over. "Kiss me?"

Sirius lets out a breathless laugh, leaning down, eyes closing. "Yes." he breathes.

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His eyes open.

He recognized his surroundings. He was back.

"Sirius!" "Fucking hell, Sirius, don't ever do something that fucking stupid again!"

He looks up and sees Salazar and Rowena looking at him. No melting. No wrongness. It was them.

"I'm," he coughs. His throat felt dry as if he hadn't spoken in years. "I'm sorry."

"Don't talk now, you'll just hurt yourself further!"

"If Helga hadn't found you in the back of the ruins when she did to stop the poison-"

"Wait." he croakes. "Helga? But no. It was. He." He coughs again. "He helped me."

Their brows furrow. "He who?" Salazar says. "There was no one else there, Sirius."

He starts to sit up. "Stay where you are, please. It took all my skill to take that poison out of you. Nasty concoction. I've never seen anything like it." A voice says in the distance. A woman walks into the room. She was fairly tall, and curvy. Her hair was long and blonde, spilling past her shoulders. Her eyes were a brown that reminded him of oak. "It causes the person to go mad. I was able to take it out. But I should have been too late to save you. It's as if something interveined..."

He sits up and it is then that he realizes that he has Helga Hufflepuff's Cup in his grasp.

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A/N: Damn, that was difficult to write lol. I hope I conveyed the madness, the insanity that Sirius was going through. As it was from his perspective, I wanted to send home that he was losing it. However, as Helga explains, it wasn't a literal thing to drive someone to madness, but a mental one. I always figured Voldemort would have nasty things on his Horcruxes. We saw some evidence of that in the books, with Dumbledore having to drink the deadly potion to get to the Horcrux but always thought that more of the nasty ideas that Voldemort would have employed would have been impossible to write about in a series that a good majority of children read. But I figured Voldemort would think of something that nasty, so I wrote it.

I hope you enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

-PhoenixJustice


	15. Preparations

Time Paradox Revolution

by: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros and people who aren't me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for future sexual content, language, violence, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, James/Lily, etc.

Setting: Post-Deathly Hallows, then pre-Sorcerers/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

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Chapter Fifteen - Preparations

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He spent a long time at home recuperating after that. While he might have lamented the time spent resting when he could be searching, he also was grateful to it making him have to slow down a bit. He could enjoy more time with his family without feeling guilty about it. And really, he had to take as much of this time as he could. Soon things would be changing greatly, after all.

It takes a few days of rest as well as the constant overseeing of Helga Hufflepuff to make sure there was no poison lingering in his system. He _had_ been lucky. If not for the intervention of...of the Harry he had seen, as well as Helga later, he would surely be dead by now, no probably much sooner than that.

Meeting another Founder had still been a huge experience for him, even if he was pretty used to Salazar and Rowena now, it was still a thing to meet another of them. The only one left was Godric Gryffindor. From all that Rowena said (and Salazar _didn't_ say) the man was alive somewhere in the world as well. Who knew if he'd ever meet him though. Salazar was so vehement in meeting him, for some reason. He never elaborated on it, and Rowena never did either, but it was something big from what he could tell. And it wasn't a thing out of hate, spite, or any darker emotion like that either; he could see it in Salazar's eyes that it was something else entirely.

Helga was a kind woman, very kind. She had met James, Lily and the others after she, Salazar, and Rowena returned with Sirius in tow, as hurt as he had been. But she was also stern, as she needed to be, as in the case of when Sirius didn't want to rest like he truly needed to. Her brown eyes stared at him until he meekly obeyed, but after that she laughed and rubbed his head like he was a child. Of course, to people like her and the other Founders who had been around for such a long time, everyone would look like children compared to them and their ages. Despite their ages though, they still had this energy and vitality about them that always surprised him to see.

Harry had taken to Helga immediately, as he had to Rowena and Salazar. He had wondered how Harry would take her, but he liked her from the get-go, as he had the other two. He had been unsure how Harry would take Rowena because of her sometimes harsh and abrasive attitude, but she had been kind to him, talked to him gently yet did not talk down to him the way some people talked down to children because of their ages. Funnily enough Salazar had spoken to Harry the same way she had, as had Helga now.

Harry... having down time made him think of the other Harry. Surely that was what that had been back when he was stuck in the middle of that horrible illusion spell thing. He didn't know how he had got to where Sirius was, how he had come back at _all_, to be honest. He had watched him, years ago, disappear right in front of his eyes. Had watched him cease to be. He had done it gladly, future Harry, to give his past self and everyone else a true chance at living. And they had. He had given up so much to them and none of them had ever forgotten about it. He...although Sirius didn't know that Harry, the Harry who had lost a Sirius Black, who had...had loved Sirius, he still felt like he _knew_ him. Seeing him had touched upon something deeply within himself that he hadn't ever felt before.

It felt odd, but not bad. And seeing him again in that place...he didn't want him to disappear again. He wanted to talk with him, learn more about him, _be_ with him. So, yes...it felt odd. Especially considering there was a Harry here now. Of course he didn't feel anything like that for the Harry of now; he was much too young. But he was curious to see how this Harry would grow up, the kind of man he would become. Would be like the man who had so courageously given his life, his world, to give them one? He would make sure not to compare the two. That would be unfair to both of them.

For now, he would watch over this Harry and make sure he stayed safe; protecting his family meant everything to him.

Soon things would be changing, soon enough Harry would be getting on a train called the Hogwarts Express, and everything would change for him.

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How had so much time passed? She often wondered that. Sat back and would watch Harry run around and play, would watch James try and cook (while the House Elves rung their hands and tried to correct his mess behind his back), watched Sirius make goofy faces or tell silly stories to everyone at the table, watched how everyone ooh'd and ahh'd at Salazar and Rowena's transformations, would listen to Remus talk passionately about the subjects that interested him most and how what he felt he found what he wanted to do.

Everyone had grown, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. They were no longer the brash (for the most part), headstrong kids of before but had matured more into adulthood-without losing that spark of childish wonder and delight at things. That was important.

These times with everyone, they were things she cherished. Things that had originally been something that would never, ever, be. But her son (regardless if it was the future or whatever, he was still her son) had come back and had so selflessly given up everything, _everything_, for them, for them to have a chance at a real, whole, life. She had never forgotten the words, both plainly written and the words hidden that were found later, on the parchments. He had given them the chance and they had all promised to one another to make sure that his sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. They would live. _Live_.

Which is why she had worked hard to become a good Healer; healing was vital in war and outside of it as well. And even if Voldemort was never seen again, as he hadn't been seen in these few years bow, it never hurt to be prepared for any situation. And she had reveled in her learning.

It was why James had worked hard to become a proper Auror; to be able to protect those who needed protecting, to be close to whatever information might be needed in case of Voldemort's return.

It was why Remus, despite the problems he had in life sometimes from people's prejudices about werewolves, was becoming a teacher, teaching people about many things, werewolves included. His goal was to become good enough to teach at Hogwarts. Although Lily had argued with that, saying he was already good enough so why not just ask Albus for a position? But he remained firmly stubborn on that, so he was still in the process of learning more as well as teaching here and there, taking jobs where he could.

Sirius wasn't a full time Auror, because of his Mission (as he called it), but he still had the qualifications for it. And a position had been left open for him by Kingsley whenever he saw fit to take it.

They had all done as future Harry had wanted; they were living.

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"Thanks for coming along."

"Not at all. Draco needed his school things as well; it gives the boys time to catch up and I can catch up with you." Narcissa says, swirling her straw in her drink, smiling.

They were currently at Florean Fortescue's, having some lunch before getting more of the boys' school supplies. They had gotten their letters recently, which was an exciting thing for all, if a bit sad; happy because they would be getting to go to Hogwarts, which they had heard about since they were small children (and they so wanted to go) and sad because they'd be far away from their parents. Lily was happy for Harry, as he had been so anxious to go since far back, but she was also sad in not having her only child near her as close as he had been. But all kids grow up and they all deserve to spread their wings out. And things were as safe now as they could be, so it was the perfect time for him to go.

He deserved to be able to learn all he could, to spend more time around different kids around his age. He was a kind boy, happy, things she was happy that she and James had been able to live and see. She couldn't wait to see how he would grow from here.

And she was happy to have Narcissa here with her; they had become very close friends, since their reintroduction proper into the wizarding world years ago. She was glad she had the opportunity to see who the Malfoy's were, truly were. They hadn't had it easy on their end of things either, after all. Having to pretend such elitism and egotism to keep face to a society that had been overrun with evil surely couldn't have been easy. Narcissa wasn't a cruel woman, nor was Lucius a cruel man. But one did what was necessary in those day to protect what was close to them. And Narcissa and Lucius were much in the same way as Lily and James, as they would do whatever it took to protect their family.

But those false layers had been chipped off and shed, and she had been able to see the people truly beneath there. And now they were able to act as they wanted to, not as society wanted them to.

"That's true!" she says with a small laugh. "I've been so busy at St. Mungo's lately that James and Harry keep complaining. Luckily the last of my classes will be ending soon, so I'll have the last license I need and won't be spending so much time away from home."

"That's wonderful," Narcissa says, glancing over where the boys were currently in some sort of heated discussion about one of the latest Quidditch matches, then back at Lily. "I keep thinking I need to find something like that to do, but of course Lucius and Draco might tell me to stay away longer!"

"Oh, please!" Lily says, shaking her head and smiling. "You know that's far from the case. But if you're interested, St. Mungo's still has some spots open for Healers. With no wars going on, there isn't as much need for them right now, but I think they can always be useful."

"A healer..." Narcissa mused. "I don't think a Malfoy has ever been a Healer before. It would go a long way to get rid of that nasty image we still have with people..."

"And if that doesn't work, we'll find something else for you."

"You're such a good friend, Lily."

"I could say the same to you. Draco has been great for Harry; I had been afraid due to our forced stay-in in our house for so long might keep him from making friends, but Draco made sure that didn't happen."

"Yes." Narcissa laughs. "My son does have that boisterous personality sometimes. He was not taking no for an answer."

_"Be my friend, Potter!"_

_"I-"_

_"That's settled, then! Now let's go and have some of that cake of yours then."_

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"Are you sure you have everything? Did I pack enough shirts? Pants? Underwear?"

"Muuuum!" Harry says, closing his trunk. "It's fine!"

"We've already double and triple checked, Lil." James says, amused at his wife's actions. "Calm down."

"I am calm! I just...this is such a big moment. I want to make sure you have everything."

"Well, I don't have _everything_ I could use. Could I maybe get a-"

"No." they say in unison. They had had this discussion with him for a good while now.

"Not for at another year, at least. You couldn't even try out for Quidditch until your second year." Lily says, straightening out Harry's new robes. "We'll talk about it then."

"But-!"

"No, buts."

"Your mum's right, Harry. Anyway, this time is more important for you to learn more and make new friends; brooms come later. You'll feel better about it later."

"Promise?"

"Promise. Now lets hurry before we're late."

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The train was shiny and red, looking as great as it ever had. Families come from this direction and that direction as they try to direct kids to the train. One family hugs each other tightly, sobbing. Another had the youngest child trying to stuff what looked like the family dog into their trunk. ("You can't take Boo to school with you, Geoff!") Others wave to each other, others laughing. It was a great hodgepodge of people. For someone like Harry, he took everything in with awe. Although he saw magic at his house and from people close to him, he was seeing things here he hadn't seen before. And this was just at the train station! He could only imagine how it'd be when he finally got to school.

James looks back and forth. "You better hurry, Harry; the train should be ready to leave soon."

"But I can't yet! I promised Uncle Sirius I'd wait for him!"

"I know, sweetie," Lily says gently. "But you know how busy he is, he might not come here in time."

"He will! He _promised_, mum!"

"And I don't break my promises. Right, Harry?" A voice from behind them says suddenly.

They all quickly turn around to see Sirius standing there, grinning. He looked a bit dusty, and a bit scraped up, but all the enthusiasm he usually had was there. He gives Harry a rub on the head.

"Right!" Harry exclaims, grinning as well.

"I'd be remiss as a Godfather to two of my best friends' child if I didn't show up for an event like this."

"Where did you come from this time, Uncle Sirius?"

Sirius puts a finger to his mouth, making a shushing sound. "Shh. It's a secret."

The train lets out a whistle.

"Time to go! Everyone heading to Hogwarts, on board now!"

They get Harry up to the nearest compartment, helping him with his trunk.

"Now be sure to write us soon, okay?"

"I will, mum."

"Let me know how your lessons go!"

"I will, dad!"

"Make sure to detail everything about the first person you pull a prank on!"

"_Sirius!_" Lily exclaims.

Harry laughs. "I will, Uncle Sirius! I promise! And when someone makes a promise they have to keep it!"

Sirius nods, smiling. "That's right!"

The train whistles again and it starts to move. Harry waves. And keeps waving, until he and the train are no longer in sight.

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I hope you enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

-PhoenixJustice


	16. Journey

Time Paradox Revolution

by: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros and people who aren't me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for future sexual content, language, violence, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, James/Lily, etc.

Setting: Post-Deathly Hallows, then pre-Sorcerers/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

A/N: Will be containing some dialogue and the like from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone. This is it people! Harry's first year at Hogwarts!

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Chapter Sixteen - Journey

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Even if you had been prepared for something that didn't mean that you couldn't still be in awe of something. And he was, in awe that was. The descriptions of the train didn't do it justice; the red paint was fresh and glossy, making a wonderful contrast to the black and the gold lettering. The hodge podge of people was amusing too, reminding him greatly of Diagon Alley and its varied people who always were going here or there.

After losing sight of his parents and Sirius he searches for a seat, finally finding an empty compartment near the back. He gets his trunk settled, glad to find somewhere to sit and take in the sights outside and even more glad to be on his way to Hogwarts.

He had heard of the famous school for as long as he could remember from various family members, whether it was his mother talking about her Charms classes with Professor Flitwick in where a student had messed up their spell and had caused Professor Flitwick to float around the room, arms flailing, Uncle Remus talking about the time Harry's dad had accidentally Transfigured Sirius' hair so Sirius had been stuck with a bald head for the day until a potion could be brewed up, Harry's dad talking about a key match against Ravenclaw that went down to the wire before he managed to throw the Quaffle in split seconds before the Ravenclaw Keeper could catch it, right before time expired.

Or the time Sirius told him of the time that they had (he and James) cast a seemingly innocent spell on Remus, saying it was for his cold. He had, of course, been suspicious of them but as nothing adverse had happened that day or night, he had gave it less thought. When he woke up, however, he found that all of his hair had been turned a shocking pink color. Remus had been quick to chime in that he had made sure to prank them in return by hitting them with a spell that made them belch every other word they spoke.

Harry knew that he'd be lucky if he could have those kinds of fun experiences. He was determined not to repeat what they did though; he wanted his own fresh experiences. He'd see how things would go. Regardless, he was excited. And a little nervous too, truth be told. Although he had been around magic since he was born and watched his family do spells, had even been allowed to help with potions here and there, what if he was rubbish at doing spells himself?

It was something he hadn't really talked about with his parents, as he didn't want to worry them, but he did worry a bit. Just a bit.

He startles a bit as he hears the compartment door open. First thing he sees is a gangly body and a shock of red hair. He relaxes.

"Anyone else sitting there?" the red-haired boy asks, pointing to the seat opposite. "Everywhere else is full." Harry shakes his head. "Cool." The boy takes a seat. He settles into his seat, then straightens up a bit, looking at Harry more closely now. He jumps a bit. "Merlin! Are you? You are! You're Harry Potter!"

Harry snorts, shaking his head. "Very funny, Ron."

Ron grins. "Well, _I _thought it was." He settles back in his seat. "So how have you been? Haven't seen you around since you got that nasty cold. Your mum seemed to have gotten you all straightened out."

Harry nods. "I'm good! That cold wasn't any fun though; sorry I couldn't make it to the party. I wanted to go but mum said I'd "spread germs and get people sick"."

"Still though..." Ron says, glancing out the window. Harry does so too for a moment, watching the rolling hills pass them by as they move further and further ahead on the train. "Hogwarts."

"I know," Harry breathes. "Been thinking about it for _ages_. Mum kept scolding me because I kept staying up late looking at my Letter and books and wand. She said she wanted to keep my wand until I got onto the train but dad said I could hold onto it so long as I was careful and didn't try any spells."

"Ouch. That had to be hard!"

"It _was_. I wanted to try to heat up my tea, so I sneaked my wand to the kitchen table but Mixny took it from me."

"I wish we had a House Elf," Ron moans, pouting. "Then I wouldn't have to pick up my stuff. Or anyone elses."

"I still have to pick up after myself," Harry reminds him. "Dad and mum give me chores to do. Our House Elves just help keep the rest of the house in order and other stuff, I dunno, but I still have to clean my room."

They continue like that for a little while, chatting about this and that, helping the time go by. It was already easing his nerves being able to talk to a friendly face. Someone who hadn't been to the school either, so he wasn't alone in things. He laughs as Ron bites into a Bertie Botts Every Flavor Bean and immediately spits it out again ("Bleeeeeeeeagh! _I hate sprouts_!") and then has to deal with Ron's laughter later as he bites into what he thinks might be a peppermint but turns out to be liver and onions.

The countryside now flying past the windows was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills. A knock suddenly comes from the door of their compartment and it opens to a round-faced boy that Harry recognizes as Neville Longbottom, a boy who had been to some of Harry's parents' parties with his grandmother. They hadn't hung out much, as the boy was more shy than even Harry. He seemed nice enough though. Now, however, he looked forlorn.

"Have either have you seen a toad at all?" he asks quietly.

They both shake their head and he lets out a wail that surprises Harry, as the boy was never really that loud.

"He'll turn up," Harry says, trying to comfort him as best as he could.

"I-If you see him, can you find me and let me know?" he sniffles.

They both nod and he leaves, head hung.

"Dunno why he's so bothered; if I had a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Then again, I can't talk. All I've got is Scabbers."

He pulls out a lizard that was just snoozing away. It was green with small stripes of white here and there and had tiny little horns on its head. He hadn't seen any like it before. But to be fair, whenever he went to the pet stores in Diagon Alley with his parents he was never looking for a lizard. He was looking for an owl. He in fact now _had_ an owl now. A snowy white owl he got for becoming a student at Hogwarts. He named her Hedwig, after seeing the name in one of his books. He liked the sound of it. And she seemingly had too, from the way she had affectionately nibbled on his finger. He was just sad he hadn't been able to bring her to his first day at Hogwarts; she had gotten her wing a bit bent out of shape a few days prior and had to spend a few days at home to recover before she'd be able to come to school with him. He couldn't wait until then.

"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," Ron says in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him a bit more interesting, but the spell didn't work. Here I'll show you..."

He rummages around in his trunk for a few minutes before finally pulling out what he was looking for. The wand was quite battered in places and if Harry looked closely, he could see something at the top of the wand nearly poking out.

"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out," Ron mutters. "Anyway-"

He was in the middle of raising his wand when the compartment door opens again. This time it was not the round-faced Neville, but a girl Harry had never seen before, her brown hair quite bushy. She already had her Hogwarts robes on.

"Have either of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one." she asks them both.

They both shake their head.

"Oh, were you about to do some magic then? Let's see it then." And she sits down.

Ron seems a bit taken aback but shakes it off. "Oh, uh. Okay. Right." He clears his throat and waves his wand a bit. "_Sunshine, daisies, mellow yellow, turn this stupid thing yellow!_"

Nothing happens. The lizard stays green and fast asleep.

"Are you sure that's a real spell? Well it's not very good is it? I've tried a few spells on the train, for practice of course, and they've all worked for me. Maybe it was the wand motion or incantation? Nobody is magic in my family so I was ever so surprised when I got my letter but I was very happy about it. I mean, it's the best school of magic in the world, so I've heard. I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough. I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, and you are?"

She had said all of that very fast.

By looking at Ron's stunned face he could see that he too hadn't learnt the course books by heart and was relieved he wasn't the only one.

"Ron Weasley." Ron mutters, still looking a bit stunned.

"Harry Potter." he replies to the girl, Hermione. "And you did?"

She seemed to understand what he meant. "Of course I did. I don't want to be behind in any of my classes. Surely you all looked over your books thoroughly or looked over _Hogwarts, A History_. Do either of you know what House you might be in? I've asked around and Gryffindor seems to be the best House, from what I can tell. Albus Dumbledore himself was in Gryffindor! I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be _too _bad. Anyway, I need to go and look for Neville's toad. You too had better change into your robes; I expect we'll be there soon."

She leaves.

"Whatever House she's in, I hope I'm not in it," Ron says, throwing his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell. George gave it to me-he must have known it was a dud."

"All of your brothers have been in Gryffindor, right?"

Ron nods. Gloom seemed to be setting in on him. "Yep. Mum and dad were in it too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be _that_ bad, but imagine if they put _me_ in Slytherin. Mum'll flip her lid."

He sets back, looking depressed.

"Hey, I think Scabbers is looking a bit lighter," Harry says, trying to make his friend's spirit rise and off of the school Houses. "So what does Charlie and Bill do any way? I don't think you've ever told me."

"Charlie's off in Romania, studying dragons. And Bill's in Africa, doing something for Gringotts." Ron says. "Oh, speaking of Gringotts. Did you hear? Some sort of high-security vault was broken into, or rather someone _tried_ to."

Harry stares. He sort of remembered hearing his dad and Sirius mentioning something about Gringotts, before they realized he was listening and quickly changing the subject.

"What happened to the person?"

"Nothing. That's the weird part. They weren't caught. Dad says they'd have to be a big Dark wizard not to get caught. I mean, everyone knows Gringotts is the safest place to keep something; the goblin's have made sure that's true. They didn't get anything from the vault they were trying to steal from, but they weren't caught either."

Harry ponders on that a bit before Ron brings up some Quidditch talk. It goes on for a bit until the compartment door opens again and this time it was neither the round-faced boy Neville or the fast-speaking Hermione but someone Harry didn't recognize, flanked by a couple other boys who were much larger than him.

He had long red hair that was closer to crimson, a much darker red than his mother's hair and green eyes that were also darker than his mother's. And his eyes were cold compared to his mother's warm ones.

"Someone said_ another_ Weasley had boarded. Sure your father can afford it, Weasley? I'm sure your mother is sobbing about it as we speak."

Ron's face turns as red as his hair as he scrambles up.

"Say that again!" Ron exclaims, fists clenching.

The red haired boy smirks, pulling out his wand, starting to raise it when-

"What are you doing, Zabibi?" a voice asks.

The boy, Zabini, seems to stiffen a bit.

"This isn't over." Zabini hisses, before leaving, followed by the other two boys. Soon enough Draco Malfoy comes into view, smirking.

"No hexing, Potter?" Draco says, tsking. "I thought I taught you better than that!"

"Some of us don't practice at home with _illegal wands_, Draco." Harry says, grinning.

"Well that's your problem then, Potter! I'm not always going to be here to save you from dastardly Zabini's."

"That was Blaise Zabini?" Ron asks, speaking up for the first time since Draco popped up. He looked considertably less red than he did a few minutes prior.

"You've heard of him?" Harry asks. The Zabini's had never been people he had seen at his parents' parties, so he wasn't very familiar with the name.

"Yeah, his mother is _well_ known in circles." Draco says. "I think she's on her seventh husband by now."

With that Draco leaves, after a nod to Harry. A minute later Hermione Granger reappears.

"I hear shouting; were you fighting? You shouldn't be fighting! What would the Headmaster say?"

Harry starts to open his mouth but she interrupts. "You two should hurry and put your robes on. We're nearly the-"

A loud whistle stops her.

_"Leave your trunks here. I repeat, leave your trunks here. They will be taken to the school shortly. Please step off in an orderly fashion. I repeat-"_

And just like that, the nerves were back.

Hogwarts loomed on the horizon.

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A/N: I'm sorry about the wait for the chapter; I dealt with some bad back issues, then as soon as I started to feel better I got the flu. So yeah, fun stuff lol. I'm feeling better now, so chapters will be more frequent again.

I hope you enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

-PhoenixJustice


	17. Entrance

Time Paradox Revolution

by: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros and people who aren't me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for future sexual content, language, violence, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, James/Lily, etc.

Setting: Post-Deathly Hallows, then pre-Sorcerers/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

A/N: Will be containing some dialogue and the like from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone. This is it people! Harry's first year at Hogwarts!

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Chapter Seventeen - Entrance

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"You two haven't been fighting, have you?" Hermione asks, as they all step off the train. Confused looking first years, like they, looked around for where to head, with the older years helping get everyone towards the direction of the train station up ahead where they needed to be. "You can't be fighting! You'll be in trouble before we even reach the school!"

Ron scowls. "We haven't been fighting!"

"Fine! I only wanted to make sure everything was okay!" Hermione says in a sniffy voice. "By the way; you've got dirt on your nose." She points at Ron and his nose. "Right there."

Ron continues to scowl after her as she leaves, but he also tries to rub at his nose without really being noticed. Harry hides a grin. As they move further into the station area, Harry hears a voice.

"Firs' years! Firs' years here with me!"

As they get up there, it's clear who the voice coming from. Never had Harry ever met someone so tall or big, but the man with the tallness and largeness and bushy hair and beard didn't scare him-not now anyway. He had had some time to meet Rubeus Hagrid and talk to him before, as Hagrid was a family friend (as his parents had befriended Hagrid, the gamekeeper and keeper of the Keys at Hogwarts, during their own time in school) and was also a close confidant of Dumbledore, who also frequented his parents' doorstep when he could.

Ron obviously hadn't met Hagrid though and goggles at the sight of him, like most of the other first years do.

"Alright, alright, firs' years follow me!" Hagrid says again, a large lantern in one of his hands. He looks down at grins at Harry. "Alright there, Harry?"

Harry nods, grinning, though he still felt the bits of nervousness in his stomach.

They follow Hagrid down what seems like a steep and narrow path. It was also so dark at this point that Harry thought there could even be trees around and he wouldn't know the difference. Nobody speaks much during the trek, except for Neville who sniffs a few times about his lost toad, Trevor.

"Yeh'll get your firs' sight of Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid calls out to the group after a few moments.

There is soon a loud smattering of "Ooohs".

The narrow path soon opens up near a large, black lake. Perched upon a large mountain on the other side is a very large castle, with many turrets, towers, and windows.

"No more than four to a boat!" Hagrid calls out, pointing to a row of boats. Harry and Ron quickly get into one, followed by Neville and Hermione.

"Everyone in?" Hagrid yells, getting gingerly into his own boat that he had to himself (for obvious reasons.) "Off then!"

The ride was cold as the boats sailed (on their own) on the deep, dark water on the way to the castle, with everyone huddling closer together in their cloaks to try and stay warm. Harry envied Hagrid who had a large fur coat that had to be keeping him toasty warm; or at least much warmer than any of them.

The closer the boats get to the castle, the more his nerves come back in full force before he can stamp them back down. What if he wasn't any good? Everyone always talked about how good his mum and dad were in school in various things. What if he was so bad they said they made a mistake and made him go back home?

"Heads down!" Hagrid yells as the first boats reach the upcoming cliff.

They all bend their heads down as the boats carry them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They get carried along a long tunnel that almost seems to take them underneath the castle itself, until they reach a underground dock of sorts where they clamber out of their boats, onto the rocks and pebbles.

"Oi, you!" Hagrid yells out suddenly. "This your toad?"

"Trevor!" Neville says in relief, grabbing the toad, probably tighter than necessary, and keeping it close.

They all start to head up a narrow pathway up, following Hagrid and his lantern in what would otherwise be complete darkness. Eventually they come up to the ground and smooth grass near the castle doors. A murmur starts to come up between everyone; the situation no doubt hitting everyone. They were here. In a few moments the Sorting would begin!

They walk up the large stone steps and eventually all huddle near the large oak door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"

Hagrid raises one of his huge fists and raps on the door three times.

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The door opens immediately and a black haired witch stands there. She looked a bit stern, in Harry's opinion. He could tell that this would be someone who it would be good not to get on the bad side of.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall." Hagrid says.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She pulls the door open wide. The hallway was so large you could have fit a house in it. The stone walls gleamed from the torches set here and there along them. Gargoyles and statues were also placed here and there. The ceiling was too high to make out, but near them is a magnificent looking marble staircase that led up to the upper floors. They follow Professor McGonagall across the stone floor. To his right, Harry could hear the voices of many people. He supposed everyone else had arrived to the school already; they must have had quicker ways to get to the school than the boats. But he didn't mind the extra time spent; it had been really nice to take the time and take the school in-probably what the Headmaster or Headmistress who came up with it were thinking of when they decided to do that.

They, however, don't go straight into the door to the right as he expected. Instead they are led to a room a bit further down. It looked like a classroom of some sort. Everyone kind of moves closer together, feeling the nerves come back again in full force, looking around a bit anxiously and nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall says. "The start of the year banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall you will all be sorted into Houses. The Sorting is an important event, because while you are here at Hogwarts, the House you get sorted into will be something like a family. You will spend time in your House with your housemates, take lessons with your housemates and sleep in your House dormitory."

"The four Houses of Hogwarts," she continues. "are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. All Houses have a noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your excellent work shall produce House points for your house and any rule breaking will take away points. At the end of the year, the House cup is produced for the House who has the most points at the end of the year. It is a great honor and I hope that each of you will be a credit to the House you end up in. The Sorting ceremony will take place shortly. I suggest each of you smarten yourselves up a bit as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes particularly linger on Neville, with his toad, and Ron with his smudged nose from where he had been rubbing it earlier.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," McGonagall says. "Please wait here."

She leaves.

The tension was all but audible now. Harry, meanwhile, was still feeling nervous but there was also curiousness in him as well. This was the school his parents had went to, where his Uncle Remus and Uncle Sirius had went to, this was the school that Rowena, Helga and Salazar had _founded_. It didn't get much more huge than that. Although, not that any of his friends knew that about Rowena, Salazar and Helga. To his friends and his parents' friends, they were just more witches and wizards like themselves. Very few knew the actual true. After all, the names of the Founders weren't exactly uncommon in the Wizarding world (after the Founders had created Hogwarts, it had become popular to name children after them-so his Uncle Remus had told him-and although it had fallen out of fashion for a time, it was still common enough now that no one blinked an eye when someone told them their name was a Salazar or a Godric or a Helga or a Rowena.)

"Sorting into houses!" one voice near them whispers. "How does that work?"

"Dunno." another voice says. "I heard some sort of test. I hope it doesn't hurt!"

"That's silly!" Hermione says. "They would never do a test that would _hurt_. They use a Hat to sort people; I read about it in _Hogwarts, A History._"

He looks around. Everyone looked pretty nervous and on edge, even Hermione Granger who seemingly was trying to deal with her nerves about talking about what sorts of spells they might have to use in lessons. He tries to tune her out and focus on other things to deal with the nervousness but he doesn't get very far in when something happens that makes everyone jump.

Ghosts fly out of the wall.

"What the-?!"

He gasps, as do the others around him. Around twenty or so ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. They were pearly white and transparent and were talking to each other, hardly noticing the students who were openly gaping at them. They seemed to be arguing.

A pudgy looking monk speaks up. "Forgive and forget, I say. The least thing we can do is-"

"Once or twice, maybe, my good Friar. But this has happened dozens upon dozens of times. There can only be so much forgiveness. Especially for one who is not even a proper ghost."

"A poltergeist! He should be thankful the Headmaster hasn't exorcised him from the school already!"

"Now, I say-"

"My dear, Friar, haven't we already given Peeves enough chances? And what has he done with them but laugh in our faces and continue the way he has been? He gives us all a bad name and he's not even a proper gho-oh, I say, what are all of you doing here?" A handsome looking ghost with long curling hair in an outfit complete with cuff and tights seems to finally notice the crowd, focusing his attention on them.

Nobody says anything.

"New students?" the Friar says, joyfully. At a few of the students' hesitant nods he continues. "Always a welcome sight to see here! I hope to see some of you in Hufflepuff-my former House!"

"Come, move along now," a voice says sharply. It was Professor McGonagall again. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin."

They all follow her and Harry was sure many of them were glad to get away from the ghosts. He hadn't personally be scared by them, he was glad to say, but he had been in a bit of shock seeing them up close. He had been told by his parents what to expect from many of the aspects in the school, but it was another thing entirely to see them for yourself up close.

He gets into line, behind a sandy haired boy, with Ron behind him as they start to head further down. The nervousness was starting to come back again as they walk down back down the hall and through a pair of double doors that lead to the Great Hall.

He couldn't have imagined such a wonderous looking place. The giant hall was lit with floating candles that decorated and helped light the place, floating over four long tables that had to represent the four Houses. The tables were laid with glittering plates and goblets. At the top of the Hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting (other than Professor McGonagall, obviously.) She leads them all near the table, to face the other students who were already sitting at tables and obviously ready to watch the upcoming Sorting (and more so, probably for the food.)

Here and there he could spot some of the ghosts he had seen a few minutes earlier in the room, with a few he didn't recognize. He decides to look up, to give him something to do (and to try and feel like he wasn't being stared at.) The ceiling was obviously enchanted and it looked beautiful. It looked like the night sky, the stars twinkling in such a complete way that one could almost believe them to be true stars. He hears gasps of awe as a shooting star passes through the spelled clouds.

"It's been enchanted to look like the night sky," he hears Hermione whisper. "I read about it in _Hogwarts, A History._"

He looks back down as he hears Professor McGonagall setting the Sorting Hat down onto the stool. He gulps against a sudden lump in his throat. This was it...it was almost time to be sorted. If he got Sorted at all. What if the hat decided to send him packing on his merry way? ('Sorry, kid. They made a mistake sending you here; you'll never be a good wizard. Head home, already!')

The Hat was patched and frayed; obviously very, very old. He supposed even magic had only been so much to keep it together. Still, it _was_ still held together. He wasn't sure how a hat would Sort them; maybe they pulled a card out of it and it told them what House they need to be in? Sort of like the magician's trick of pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

For a few seconds, there is silence. Then the Hat starts to shake a bit. A rip near the brim opens and surprise of all surprises-the Hat starts to _sing_.

_"Oh, you might not think I'm pretty but don't judge on what you can see. I'll eat my hat if you can find a smarter hat than me. You can keep your bowlers black, your top hats sleek and tall. For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat and I can cap them all. There's nothing hidden in your head the Sorting Hat can't see. So try me on and I'll tell you where you ought to be."_

_"You might belong in Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart; their daring, nerve, and chivalry set Gryffindors apart. You might belong in Hufflepuff, where they are just and loyal; those Hufflepuff's are true and unafraid of toil. Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw; if you've a ready mind, where those of wit and learning will always find their kind. Or perhaps in Slytherin, you'll make your real friends. Those cunning folks use any means to achieve their ends. So put me on! Don't be afraid! And don't get in a flap! You're in safe hands-for I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

The whole Hall bursts into applause as the Hat finishes its song. Professor McGonagall now comes forward as the applause dies down, carrying a long piece of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will sit on the stool, put on the Sorting Hat and be sorted." Professor McGonagall says. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink faced blonde haired girl with pigtails stumbles forward and puts on the hat gingerly which immediately falls over her eyes. After a moment of silence-

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat yells out.

Hannah Abbott takes off the hat and sets it back down, running over to the Hufflepuff table.

It goes on this way for awhile, through names such as "Bones, Susan!", "Boot, Terry.", "Brocklehurst, Mandy", "Finch-Fletchley, Justin", "Granger, Hermione" (who gets put into Gryffindor-causing Ron to groan next to him.), "Longbottom, Neville" (the round faced boy who had lost his toad, goes into Gryffindor-and promptly runs off with the Hat still on, causing people to laugh until he returns, red-faced, with it so "MacDougal, Morag" can put it on.)

Next Draco's name comes up and the hat is barely on his head when it crows out "SLYTHERIN!" He swaggers off to the Slytherin table, glancing at Harry and smirking before sitting at the table.

A handful of other names come out and people get Sorted. Then, finally-

"Potter, Harry!"

He rubs his sweaty hands against his robes and takes in and lets out a breath. He sits on the stool and the Hat gets put over his face, falling over his eyes.

"Hmm. Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent-oh, yes-and a thirst to prove yourself. People in your corner...what would be best..."

And he thought. All the Houses had their merits, from what he had heard. But also their drawbacks. He remembered the things his dad and Uncle Sirius had to say about Slytherin. He valued Draco and his friendship, but he didn't know if he wanted to be in the House if it would be anything like he had heard.

_Not Slytherin, not Slytherin..._

"Not Slytherin?" the voice says quietly. "Hmm. Are you sure? You could be great there you know. Slytherin could help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that...well, if you're sure...then, better be...GRYFFINDOR!"

The last part was yelled loudly for the Hall to hear. The Gryffindors could be heard clapping loudly as they got another Lion to their ranks. He takes off the Hat and heads over to the Gryffindor table with relief, sitting down heavily. Percy Weasley, one of Ron's older brothers nods in approval, while Fred and George Weasley (more of Ron's older brothers, who were twins) jump up and holler for a few moments. He glances at the Slytherin table and sees Draco rolling his eyes, but he didn't look legitimately upset. Harry shakes his head and smiles a bit at him, before looking to watch the rest of the Sorting.

There were only four people left now to get sorted. "Thomas, Dean" (a boy even taller than Ron, who goes to Gryffindor), "Turpin, Lisa" (who becomes Ravenclaw), with Ron being next. He looked a bit green around the edges but he heads to the stool and sits like the others had and the Hat goes on. It doesn't take long before the Hat yells out "GRYFFINDOR!". Harry claps loudly with everyone else at the Gryffindor table. Ron comes over to the table after taking off the hat, sitting heavily next to Harry. Meanwhile his brothers Fred and George pat him on the shoulders.

"Well done, Ron! Excellent," Percy says pompously, as Blaise Zabini (who glares at Ron, but especially glares at Harry) is made a Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolls up her scroll and takes the Sorting Hat away. "Mother and Father are sure to be pleased."

Harry looks down at the golden plate in front of him. He realizes just how hungry he actually is; the food on the train seemed ages ago. Albus Dumbledore gets to his feet. Harry had seen him often at his house; the man seemed very wise and kind. He always had a good word to say to Harry or some kind of advice at the time that helped him. He also knew how much his parents, Uncle Remus, and Uncle Sirius trusted him. Apparently he had done a lot for them and for the Wizarding World at large.

He beams at the students, arms open wide.

"Welcome! To the students of old, I thank you for another year at our humble school. For our newcomers; do not fear. If you have questions, always feel like you can ask. Knowledge is one of our greatest tools and you will be accepted with open arms at this school. I have something else to say before we begin; Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

He sits back down as everyone else claps and cheers. Harry was a bit dumbfounded but finds himself laughing at the odd Headmaster. He had known him to say odd things sometimes. Just another thing that made Albus Dumbledore a fascinating individual.

"Uh-" Ron starts. He hadn't seen Dumbledore like Harry had, so he looked a bit flummoxed. "Is he mad?"

"Mad?" Percy asks, airly. "He's a genius, Ronald! One of the best wizards in the world! ...But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"

Harry mouths starts to water-and he hears some of the first years gasp in surprise-as foods of all different sizes, shapes and everything in between starts appearing on the tables. Roast chickens and beef, pork chops, lamb chops, potatoes of almost every kind of you could think of, different meats, vegetables, drinks...and for some reason peppermint humbugs. Huh.

He grabs a bit of everything near, enjoying the food highly. He'd say it was at least as good as his mum's cooking. And definitely better than his dad's (though he wouldn't tell him that)!

"That looks good." the handsome ghost in the ruff says, sadly, looking down at Harry's food.

"You can't-?"

"I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years." the ghost says. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. Oh. I don't believe I've properly introduced myself; Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."

"Oh I heard about you from my brothers! Nearly Headless Nick, right?" Ron asks, mouth full of food.

"I would prefer you call me Sir Nicholas de Mi-"

"How are you _nearly _headless anyway?" Seamus Finnegan, one of the new Gryffindor students, asks.

Sir Nicholas looks miffed but continues on talking.

"Like _this_." he says in exasperation. Then he yanks hard on his left ear. His head swings off his neck and falls onto his shoulder, as if on a hinge. He looks pleased at the stunned looks on the faces of the crowd and after a moment, rights his head back into place. "So! New Gryffindors! I do hope you'll help us win the House cup this year; the Bloody Baron-Slytherin's resident ghost-is getting unbearable! I shan't want to deal with another loss; Slytherin has won six years in a row!"

Harry looks over and sees the ghost in question; blank looking eyes, gaunt face, and robes that looked to be stained with silver blood. He was hovering close to a very uncomfortable looking Draco. Draco seems to feel eyes on him and turns to Harry, giving him a pleading look-something he did not often do. Harry glances down the table where he finds Blaise Zabini and looks back at Draco, jerking his head in the direction he was looking. Draco turns to look, then grins back at Harry. He obviously gets the message. He says something Harry can't hear, then the Bloody Baron floats over to Zabini, to Zabini's obvious displeasure.

Everyone eats as much as they can before the dinner food disappears and the desserts start appearing. Jell-O's, puddings, ice cream, cakes, pies... Harry helps himself to some treacle tart and listens to some of the people around him.

"I'm half and half," Seamus says. "Dad's a Muggle and mam's a witch; she didn't tell him she was a witch until they got married! Bit of a shock for him."

A few people laugh.

"What about you, Neville?"

"My Gran has raised me-she's a Witch. But the family thought I was all-Muggle for ages. My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to do things and scare some magic out of me-made Gran so mad. Then one day when I was eight, Great Uncle Algie was holding me out a window by my ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him some meringue and he accidentally let go. But I _bounced._ All the way down the garden and out to the road. Gran was crying, she was so happy. You should have seen them when I got my letter for Hogwarts; they didn't know if I'd be magic enough to get here so they were so happy. Great Uncle Algie was so proud of me, he said, so he got me my toad."

On Harry's other side Hermione Granger was talking with Percy Weasley about some subjects and things: ("Oh, I do hope we start Transfiguration soon. There's this one theory that I-"

After a little while the desserts finally fade. Dumbledore stands again, getting everyone's attention.

"I just have a few more words for you before I let you all hurry to bed and enjoy your dreams. First years should note that the forests on the grounds are forbidden. Some of our older students would do well to remember that as well," Dumbledore says, a twinkle in his eye. He seemed to be looking mostly at Fred and George Weasley at that statement. They merely grin.

"I have also been reminded by Mr. Filch, our caretaker, that magic is not to be used between classes in the corridors. Also, Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term; all second years or higher may apply; if you're interested in trying out, then you contact Madam Hooch. Finally, I must tell you that the third floor corridor on the right hand side is forbidden to absolutely everyone who does not wish to die a painful death."

A few people laugh, but not many. Harry himself starts to laugh but stops when he sees how serious most people are.

"He's not serious?" he asks Percy.

"He must be," Percy says, frowning. "He never has made announcements like that. He can joke around, but he would never joke about something so serious."

"And now, before we leave, let us sing the school song before we all retire to bed!" At this point, Harry sees the other teachers' smiles looking rather fixed.

Dumbledore waves his wand and ribbons fly out, twisting and turning into words for the students to sing. Harry hadn't ever done it before, but he felt like he did a passable job. He highly enjoys Fred and George's high pitched variations, which slowly move into a death march tune after everyone else finishes singing.

"Ahh! Singing!" Dumbledore exclaims, wiping tears from his face. "A magic unlike any we can do here. Now! All of you, follow your Prefects-and off to bed!"

Percy was one of the Prefects for Gryffindor and it's him that the First Years follow, down twisting and turning staircases, up, down, this way, that way, until after what feels like a good long time to those who had stuffed themselves to the brim and were now feeling sleepy, come across a huge painting of a large woman in a pink dress.

"Password?" she asks.

"Caput Draconis." Percy says clearly.

The picture opens to reveal a open doorway.

"To get into our House, you speak a password. The password changes every so often, so make sure to talk to the Head of Gryffindor house, a prefect or Head Boy or Girl of Gryffindor so you don't get confused."

They follow him inside and inside is a large and cozy looking common room, with chairs, tables, sofas and even a nice looking fireplace. Everything was decorated in red and gold-which were Gryffindor's colors. They start to go up a staircase to the back.

"Boys this way," Percy says, pointing. "Girls, the other."

The boys follow Percy and eventually the First Years come to the rooms for them. Ron, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan, and Neville Longbottom end up in the room Harry does. Harry sits onto his bed-a nice four poster- heavily. He hears the others doing the same.

"Urgh! He's trying to chew on the sheets! Daft lizard." Ron mutters.

They all put on their pajamas and get into bed. Harry starts to ask Ron if he tried any of the treacle tart but ends up-despite his surety it would take him a long time to-falls straight asleep.

He feels like he dreams something, but he can't remember it. Something important, maybe? He wakes up in the middle of the night and tries to recall it, but can't. So he promptly turns over and back to sleep.

The first real day of school was about to begin.

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A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

-PhoenixJustice


	18. Lessons

Time Paradox Revolution

by: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros and people who aren't me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for future sexual content, language, violence, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, James/Lily, etc.

Setting: Post-Deathly Hallows, then pre-Sorcerers/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

A/N: Will be containing some dialogue and the like from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone. This is it people! Harry's first year at Hogwarts!

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Chapter Eighteen - Lessons

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Morning came quicker than he expected. The sun shines through the large windows and he groans. He knew he'd have to get up early, but it still felt like he could sleep a few more hours to be satisfied. Regardless, he gets up, dresses, and starts to ready. This was it. He could feel it. The start of a new day and-

"You ready yet? I'd like to get back here this time without Rowena biting my head off again."

Sirius stretches, yawning. He nods at Salazar who had his head poked around Sirius' door.

"Yeah. Let's find this thing already." Sirius says. He starts to move past Salazar. "You _do _realize this is all your fault, right? If you had just put better spells on it-"

Salazar snorts, moving to walk beside Sirius. "It's not my fault the Locket kept getting put into the hands of money grubbing people or overzealous people; it was meant to mean something special to my bloodline, not what it ended up becoming. Especially if it ended up as a Horcrux for Tom Riddle."

He glances at Sirius. "And we'd have probably tracked it down sooner if you weren't so worried for Harry. He'll be fine."

"But it's his first day at school!"

"Not just any school; _my _school. He'll be as protected there as he'll be protected anywhere else that we're at. You know that. You need to focus. Remember why we're doing this and who you're doing it for."

Flashes of that older Harry, his sad smile, his determination to change a bad fate for those whom he loved most. Loved... to have known him so briefly yet feel like he had always known him in those small moments before he was gone...

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He stretches and feels a bundle of excitement and nerves as he gets into his school robes and prepares for his first real day at school.

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It's tricky, but an interesting challenge, to get around. Staircases moves frequently, doors turned out to be painted on, paintings were actual doors that led to places, statues moved around in front of places you needed to go, some paintings you had to tickle or say the right word or phrase to enter, some stairs were trick stairs you had to remember to jump over. All in all, tricky, but overall a fun challenge.

The ghosts of the school were not much help though, except for a few kind ones like Nearly Headless Nick or the Fat Friar. The Bloody Baron would just stare blankly through you and some would glide through you without even listening to what you had to say, making you shiver as they passed through. Peeves was the worst, however. He would always lead you into a dead end or the completely wrong way without fail or even worst he would pelt popcorn or wads of paper at you. Teachers would have to be called to get him to stop or a Prefect would threaten to call the Bloody Baron; he was the only thing Peeves actually feared.

But luckily for him and Ron, they didn't run into Peeves all that much as of yet.

Filch, the caretaker, was an extremely unlikable man who always seemed to take enjoyment at the smallest infraction or thing he thought students were doing. Ron and Harry had gotten lost one of the days and had ended up on the third floor corridor that was off limits and he wouldn't believe them when they say they got turned around and lost and were only saved from punishment from a Professor Quirrell, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, who was passing by.

Speaking of the Defence class, Professor Quirrell was...odd. He had a load of garlic in the room. Apparently, according to some students, he had a healthy fear of vampires (though Harry was not sure if garlic actually worked on them; Professor Quirrell seemed to think-or hope-so.) The lessons, which Harry had been looking forward to, hadn't really been what he expected and he found himself a bit disappointed. He had even heard good things about Professor Quirrell from older Gryffindor students who said that he had been a pretty good teacher a couple years ago, before he had went on sabbatical for a year. It seemed like something happened on his trip-a Vampire, Harry supposed-to cause the change in him. Still, there were moments here and there where Harry could see flashes of the kind of teacher Quirrell had been before.

Herbology was taught outside by a plump looking witch named Professor Sprout. She taught them all about various magical plants and fungi and their uses in the Wizarding World. It wasn't Harry's _favorite_ subject, but he found himself caught up in her obvious love and enthusiasm for the subject she taught. Ron seemed a bit less pleased about dealing with some of the fungi they were handling but Harry couldn't exactly blame him for that.

Midnights on Wednesday were spent learning about different patterns in the stars as well as the stars themselves, taking down notes as they learned about them and the movement of the planets.

The most boring class was the one that should have, on the surface, been the most exciting; History of Magic was taught by an actual ghost-Professor Binns. One morning Binns had gotten up to teach and left his body behind him. Binns voice was cut and dry and it made it hard to concentrate. Harry continually holds back a yawn and a quick glance to his right shows Ron, head pillowed over his arms, fast asleep. Binns doesn't seem to notice.

Charms was taught by a short little wizard named Professor Flitwick who showed the same kind of enthusiasm for his subject that Professor Sprout had shown for Herbology. He was also fairly excitable, as was the case when he took roll call and as the lesson is about to start, he squeaks and falls off his seat.

Professor McGonagall, however, was different. She was not cruel, nor mean, but she was strict. And very clever too. In their first class with her, she gives a brief talk to the class.

"Transfiguration is one of the most dangerous subjects you will be learning at Hogwarts," she says. 'Anyone messing around in this class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

She then proceeds to change her desk to a pig and back again. This gets everyone quickly excited to start the lesson, though it's quickly apparent that they won't be turning any furniture into animals any time soon. After taking down a lot of complicated notes, they are finally given a match to turn into a needle. The only one who manages to make a complete needle is Hermione Granger, the girl he and Ron met on the train, and Professor McGonagall compliments her on how silver and pointy it is, giving her a rare smile.

Harry finds himself relieved, as the days and lessons pass that he isn't behind everyone else. Everyone was on pretty even footing for the most part and it helped him to relax.

Friday comes around and it's a pretty big day for Harry, though he didn't know that at first.

"What'd we got today?" Harry asks, taking a bite of his cereal.

"Double potions with the Slytherins," Ron says with a groan. "I hope it turns out okay. I heard Snape favors the Slytherins. We'll see I guess..."

Harry didn't know if Snape did or not; he had never seen him in a school setting. He could only hope the man would be fair, or more fair than expected.

"McGonagall definitely doesn't favor us," Harry says, taking another bite. Professor McGonagall was Head of Gryffindor House as Professor Snape was Head of Slytherin House.

Soon enough the Potions class is ready to begin.

"There will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this class," Professor Snape starts. He spoke in barely more than a whisper but they hung onto every word. He had a way of speaking. "As such, I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion making. However, for those select few," His eyes pass over a few people, like Draco who smirks at the people around him when Snape turns his eyes away from him, and Blaise Zabini who smirks at Harry, glaring deeply at him. "who possess the predisposition; I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even put a stopper in death. Then again...maybe some of you have not put the effort needed into it. Let's see..." he breathes, looking around the room, eyes lingering on a few.

Eventually he turns to Harry. Harry knew what was coming next. "Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of Asphodel to an infusion of Wormwood?"

Hermione Granger's hand shoots straight up. Apparently she had been studying up on Potions as well. Harry keeps his face perfectly straight. "The Draught of Living Death, sir." It was the most powerful sleeping potion a person could make and very dangerous too, if brewed by an experienced person.

"Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Hermione's hand shoots up again.

"In the stomach of a goat, sir."

"And what are the properties of a bezoar?"

He remembered his lessons well.

"It's a stone that will save you from most poisons."

Snape had his arms crossed as he looks at Harry. His eyes gleamed. "And what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

Hermione's raised hand was a bit distracting but he still manages to answer well enough. "They're the same plant, sir. They're also called Aconite."

Snape slowly nods. Hermione puts her hand down, looking disappointed.

"Hmm...five points for someone in the Gryffindor class not being as much of a dunderhead as I expected. Miracles apparently do happen." Professor Snape says, dryly. The Slytherins all glare over at the Gryffindor side of the room. Draco pretends to glare hard at Harry but soon enough gives him a wink. "We'll see if you can keep up, Potter."

Harry was ready for the challenge; he had watched, and helped, his mother-who was a great hand at potions. He could handle anything the Potions Master threw at him. He hoped. He didn't want to let his mum, or the Professor down; he had even been able to watch and help when Snape had been to his house and was brewing some potions with his mum. He couldn't wait to see what the Professor would try and throw at him next.

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"So they're off again?"

"Yes. Hopefully they'll make some actual progress this time."

"I'm sure they will; if only to stave off you and your angry tirade at them."

"Hmph. Well if they were more efficient...anyhow, why are you here? What if they come back early?"

"They won't. You know how Salazar is; he's very efficient and makes sure he has everything he needs or wants before he leaves."

"But why are you here?"

"I can't visit one of my best friends, whom I consider a sister? I'm hurt, Rowena."

Rowena snorts, shaking her head. "Sure you are. So, thrice I ask; why are you here?"

A sigh. "I'm...thinking of stopping soon."

"Stopping?" Rowena asks. "But you-"

"I know. Not stopping completely. I can't. I physically don't have it in me to stop completely. But I just...I don't know. You know I never have any visions like you do or anything but sometimes I still...there's something on the horizon, Rowena. I don't like it. I don't know when exactly, but it'll be relatively soon. And I want to be around when it happens."

"Back here?"

"...No. I'm not sure where exactly yet. But soon I'll be stopping and I'll be waiting. I-I feel like that is the right thing to do."

"I won't dissuade you. You know your own mind and if you had a vision then I certainly won't stop you. You don't get them often but they've all come true."

"Except one."

"Hmm. Well that one just needs a little more time to come into completion. Just try and hang in there a little while longer."

"I'll wait as long as it needs."

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"Are we there yet?"

"Ugh. If you ask _one more_ bloody time, Black, I'll-"

"You'll what? Turn me into a snake or something? Hiss hiss." Sirius says, grinning.

"I did it to the last person who brassed me off."

"Ooh, I'm shaking in my little-oi, what's that?" Sirius stops, pointing at something in the distance. It was hard to make anything out in the dark but they could both make out a general shape and outline of what looked like a small house in the distance.

"Our destination."

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

-PhoenixJustice


	19. House

Time Paradox Revolution

by: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros and people who aren't me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for future sexual content, language, violence, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, James/Lily, etc.

Setting: Post-Deathly Hallows, then pre-Sorcerers/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

A/N: Will be containing some dialogue and the like from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone. Some disturbing themes also in this chapter; you have been warned.

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Chapter Nineteen - House

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Sirius eyes the house doubtfully. "This is the place?" he asks skeptically.

Salazar lets out a grunt in the affirmative.

Sirius eyes _him_ just as skeptically. "If you say so..."

The house, if you could call it that, was the very definition of run down. The shutters on the windows hung loosely off the windows, barely hanging on by the barest thread. The door too seemed barely held on. The paint, what was left of it, was chipped and dull looking except for the dark red spots Sirius was suspicious about. The place _reeked_ of wrongness, of _evil. _It hits all of his senses in the worst sort of way and it has him rubbing his arms, though it didn't actually feel cold. He sees Salazar frowning at the house; he didn't seem to be affected in the same way as Sirius but he could still tell that the other man didn't like it.

"Have to say; your descendants aren't exactly..." he trails off. He had been trying to make a joke but didn't know what else to say.

Salazar shakes his head but doesn't say anything for a moment. Finally he seems to come out of whatever he was thinking about and starts to head forward. "Come on, Black; we've got work to do."

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It was completely dark inside. A couple quick _Lumos _spells help to dispel the darkness a bit but only just enough to make out each other and a few other things around them. The house is also deathly silent. He had expected something, a creaky floorboard, the scurrying feet of a mouse, _something_, but he doesn't hear anything other than their own soft breathing.

Salazar murmurs something under his breath and his light-_and _Sirius'-expands a bit further but from Salazar's face, it obviously didn't go as far as he expected and that got Sirius thinking even further.

"This isn't a mundane sort of darkness, is it?" he murmurs.

Salazar gives the barest shake of the head. "No. It isn't." He jerks his head in a direction. "Come on. Let's start looking around."

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**- GRINGOTTS BREAK IN! -**

_Just a short few hours past it was discovered that someone has_

_attempted to break into one of the vaults, believed to be caused _

_by a Dark Wizard or Witch. According to one of the goblins working _

_nothing was taken; in fact the vault that had been searched had been_

_emptied earlier in the day._

_"But it's none of your business what was in it, so leave it at that!" a_

_goblin official warns._

_This begs the question; what was in the vault? And why someone (or_

_someones) would risk Gringotts well known defences to try and take it?_

Harry finishes reading the article and puts the paper down. Someone had tried to break into Gringotts. Who would be foolish enough to try? No, not even foolishness really...they _had_ broken in _and _escaped without detection. Yes they didn't get what they were after, but they had got through Gringotts said-to-be perfect defences.

He tried not to worry. Surely what his Uncle Sirius and Salazar and everyone were doing dealt with something else? He didn't know exactly what they were doing but even he could tell it wasn't easy work.

"Harry? You okay?" Ron asks with a frown.

Harry shakes himself out of it, smiling at Ron and Hagrid. They had come to Hagrid's cabin and had been chatting when the article had caught his eye.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

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Going through rickety shelves, drawers, looking through old books, wasn't exactly Sirius' idea of _fun_ but it was necessary. Still, he was looking forward to another break soon. Head down past Knockturn Alley and find him a decent enough guy or girl to shag. He hadn't had any relationship in years but he _had_ been in the position to get his urges out. It was easy that way; mindless fucking with no empty promises. He just...he couldn't be in a relationship. Not now.

He glances at Salazar. He was glad that they had managed to get this far. After everything he didn't think he would get so far on his own. No, he _knew _he wouldn't have. And he was lucky to meet people who had become such close friends to him (and by extension Remus, James, and Lily) over the years. And their years-_centuries_-of experience definitely came in handy for situations such as these, as he didn't think that anyone had dealt with Horcruxes in a very, very long time. They were such rare things in general that even finding someone having made one was a shock, but Voldemort made _several_. And that was the scary part; who knew just how many he had made, how much he continued to warp himself which each bit of his soul he ripped away from himself.

He couldn't understand how someone could ever do that to themselves. The darkness in people...he had seen hints of it but he had never dealt with anything so grotesque, so terrible, until dealing with Voldemort. The sooner they could find the occursed Horcruxes and destroy them, the sooner they could deal with Voldemort himself, rid the world of what surely had to be the greatest evil the world had ever seen before.

After fruitless searching in what appeared to be the living area (though the clutter and general nastiness made him skeptical that anyone could live here) they make their way through the back of the room, down a very short hallway that led to the kitchen.

"You keep checking around in here," Salazar says, moving his wand around a bit. "I'm going to check the room on the other side."

Sirius nods. "Got it. Just be careful, okay? Yell if something happens."

Salazar takes off and Sirius starts to look around the kitchen. He grimaces at the caked on food (and who knew what else) on the stovetop and counter (the small wooden table in the corner didn't seem to be in much better condition.)

_Note to self...remember to bring gloves next place we search. Ugh._

It was frustrating. All he was finding was mundane items and he knew well (from conversations he'd had with Dumbledore) that Lord Voldemort would never lower himself to make something as big as a Horcrux out of something mundane. No, it would be something well known, something _special_ and these things were not special. And quick spells to uncover glamours and illusions revealed nothing. But Salazar seemed awfully certain this was the next place they needed to be and Sirius had no reason not to trust him and his judgment when it had gotten them this far.

Still, he'd be foolish to think that this could be the only thing to expect. He had already dealt with something that turned out much more horrible than the original mundane sight appeared to be. As he continues to look around, the unnerving feeling he had felt since before they entered the building.

"Salazar?" he suddenly calls out.

No answer.

"Snakeboy?"

"Down this way," Salazar calls out, huffing. "'Snakeboy' he calls me. I'll show you-" his voice trails off to where Sirius can't hear it. Sirius grins and heads the way he hears him.

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The room to the right appeared to be some sort of crude library/study sort of area. A few books were scattered, a couple broken wooden chairs were turned over. As he gets further in, he doesn't see Salazar but he _does _see where he had gotten to. He moves past the opened bookcase and heads in behind it. Down a short hallway he sees Salazar standing waiting impatiently for him.

"Behind a bookcase? Seriously? This place is in such disrepair yet they have an entrance behind a bookcase like in those Muggle books..." Sirius says, shaking his head.

Salazar shrugs elegantly. "They needed to hide their secrets _somewhere_ I suppose. And they're certainly not the first-or last-Wizards and Witches to hide their secrets."

Sirius knew that fact as well. Some Dark artifacts, spells, scrolls, and other items had been found in various Witches and Wizards' places during raids that the Aurors had done during the war with Voldemort (though he knew that there still had to be quite a few out there that had yet to be discovered.) Raids still happened now, but with much less frequency than it did before. With no sign of Voldemort in years people had started to relax, if only a little bit, but there were still Death Eaters out there and there were still killings going on that couldn't be explained. It only further deepened the mystery and Sirius wondered if this all connected to the Horcruxes somehow or not. He wondered...

He notices the ladder behind Salazar and grimaces. "Hope we don't have to go into some sewers or some shite; dealt with that enough before searching around."

Salazar smirks, starting to turn and head down the ladder. "You really think Riddle would leave as something as important as a Horcrux down in a sewer, Black? It's a wonder you got _anything _done before meeting me!"

Sirius scowls at him. "There were leads down there!" And heads down the ladder as well.

It smelled unpleasant, a mixture of things that he couldn't quite pinpoint but stunk all the same. Another thing is the feeling of _wrongness _intensifying as they head down and only contunues to get stronger as they finally get down the ladder, heading down a fairly dark, narrow hallway that led to a single wood door. This one looked stronger than the one upstairs, however. It was reinforced with metal on its side and seemed to be made of a thicker, stronger, wood.

He starts to head forward to grab the handle but is stopped by Salazar grabbing his arm.

"Wait." He says quietly. "Let me check the door first. Surely you feel the feeling too, Sirius?"

Sirius frowns. He was good friends with Salazar after these years of knowing him and Salazar always made a habit of calling him Black as a way of playing around with him. So for him to call him by his first name let him know how serious Salazar felt this was. Well it wouldn't be the first time he tried to run headlong into something without thinking about the consequences. He stops, gesturing for Salazar to go ahead.

Salazar takes a step forward, waving his wand and murmuring something under his breath Sirius couldn't quite make out. He highly suspected the man (as well as the other Founders) to still have many spells in their arsenal he had yet to see. If some were potentially dangerous for others to cast, he could see why they never saw circulation in the teaching of Hogwarts, in their time as well as later on.

He gasps as the door glows brightly red for a moment and claps his hands to his ears as a earth shattering wail fills the air. He almost thinks it a banshee scream for a moment when he realizes that it is in fact nothing he had ever heard of before. Finally, mercifully, the screaming ends and the light dims down to nothing. He opens his eyes back up and sees Salazar leaning against the wall, panting slightly. Merlin! Whatever it was bothered _Salazar_. If he felt like their searching here was fruitless before, he didn't feel so now. This was on a scale that he could expect from someone like Lord Voldemort to do.

He grabs the door now, and with a glance at Salazar who nods, he opens the door.

And immediately wishes he hadn't.

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He hadn't thought there was anyone he could ever seriously dislike, but Blaise Zabini was quickly proving to be that person and he was glad for the lessons they didn't have with Slytherin (though it meant he couldn't see Draco) because it meant dealing with Zabini less (though the Slytherin always tried to find ways to annoy Harry and Ron.)

Soon enough they'd be doing some flying on broomsticks. Harry had already luckily flown on broomsticks before, as had Ron, but he still worried he'd accidentally make a mistake in front of Zabini (as they were doing lessons with the Slytherins, unfortunately) and he'd never live it down.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Harry," Ron tries to reassure him. "You've flown on them plenty before. It's not like it's your first time. You'll be fine."

There _were_ others in the class who were nervous about it though, such as Neville Longbottom. He had never been allowed to ride on one before (and as Harry had seen first account Neville's general clumsiness he could understand why) and he tried to get any pointers from any of the people in the common room who had flown on a broom before.

Even Hermione Granger (who had so far been great in seemingly every class) talked nervously about the brooms and talked about how she had tried to read as many books about it as she could. Unfortunately for her, books only could do so much when it came to _practical _applications. They were certainly helpful for spells, spell theory and the like, but when it came to something physical such as broomsticks, you could only get so many pointers and those would only go so far. You would have to try and apply them and hope it worked. In this case practice made perfect.

Eventually it's time to head to the field and they all make their way to the field where they'd be learning. Madam Hooch was already there, her gray hair moving slightly against the wind, her yellow eyes looking over them all.

"Alright, everyone get next to a broomstick," she says promptly, already standing next to one herself. She waits until everyone does so before speaking again. "Alright. Next hold out your hand over the broomstick and say _up!_"

"Up!" everyone exclaims.

The broom immediately goes in his hand (though he felt a bit wary about riding it as some twigs and sticks were poking out in places) but his is one of the few it does. He wonders if it has anything to do with fear as Neville's doesn't move and Hermione Granger's barely moves over.

She then shows them how to mount their brooms and they all get into place.

"Now, when I blow my whistle," Madam Hooch says. "Be prepared to kick off the ground hard. Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my count: Three-two-"

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If he thought the feeling of wrongness, of something bad was strong before then he had been fooling himself. He nearly doubles over from the utterly oppressive feeling of evil, _evil, _in this room.

The room is splattered, covered, with what is obviously blood. And entrails. He can barely keep from retching as he looks at the sight. What had once been a man-and it was something he could only barely tell-was left in the middle of the room, laying on some sort of circle (made of what he could only assume was the man's blood), intricate symbols he doesn't recognize all over the circle.

Behind the man is a small alter, with a bowl of obsidian lying on top of it.

He had never felt anything like what this room represented, was, felt like. _Never_. Not even his experience when getting the Cup had felt like this. He didn't feel out of sorts like he did then, but he could almost feel the madness, along with the utter evil, swirling around him. This room had known evil. Recently, even. From the state of the man and the blood in the room, he hadn't been killed all that long ago.

He barely can hold himself up but Salazar manages to walk further in the room-though he too is obviously disturbed by the room and its contents-and to even lean down near the man. He looks puzzled.

"What is it?" Sirius croaks out. He just wanted to get _out _of here and away from this feeling, this sight in front of him.

Salazar shakes his head sadly. "Morfin, poor fellow. You weren't the sanest person in the world but you never deserved _this_."

"Morfin?"

"Morfin Gaunt. One of my direct descendants."

"How can you tell?" Sirius asks, doing his best to not look directly at the little bit left that had once been a man, a person.

"Blood calls to blood; I know and recognize anyone who shares my blood. He was Riddle's uncle, though of course Riddle never got to know his wizarding side of his family."

He barely takes all of that information in as the feeling tries to overtake him. He finds himself drawn to the altar and bowl against his will and starts to walk past Salazar, barely hearing Salazar calling out something.

He stands in front and nearly retches again at the sight of the bowl, blood filled in it so much that it had obviously overflowed. He leans down to look into the bowl, not quite sure what he was looking for, but-

_A flash of deep red skin, eyes yellow and like a cats, sharp taloned hands, large black wings that billowed outward, large horns that curved on its head, fangs sharp as it turns and it __**smiles**__ at him-!_

"_Sirius!_"

He gets yanked away and he gasps loudly, pushing at Salazar and running, _running_ out the door.

He retches horribly.

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"Come on, let's get you out of here-"

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He only starts to feel better, more like himself as they leave the house. He looks at it, stomach still churning uncomfortably but he does not retch again.

"What _was_ that, Salazar? It looked like-"

"Shh!" Salazar is quick to cut him off. He looked as serious as he had ever seen him. "Don't speak of it here."

"But-" Surely saying it couldn't hurt. Right? But then it again it... He shivers violently for a moment.

"And the Locket was taken." Salazar says unhappily, brows furrowed a bit. "But we at least learned something important."

"We did?" The Locket not being here was a huge blow and he could only hope they could recover from this and find it again. Regardless, this experience would leave him with some heavy nightmares for a long time.

"_They _walk again."

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	20. It

Time Paradox Revolution

by: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros and people who aren't me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for future sexual content, language, violence, etc.

Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, James/Lily, etc.

Setting: Post-Deathly Hallows, then pre-Sorcerers/Philosopher's Stone.

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

A/N: A few skips in the chapter. The first few years of Harry's school might go a little quick; otherwise it'd take forever to get where I want it to get to. :P

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Chapter Twenty - _It_

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Salazar wouldn't say anything more about it. When he starts to ask just what _They _were, Salazar is quick to hush him, looking around quickly and telling him to not say any more. That scared Sirius more than he liked, as they left. If something could legitimately scare _Salazar Slytherin_ then it had to be something on a scale that Sirius had never ever dreamed of; because while Salazar hadn't dismissed Riddle as a serious threat, he was certainly not _scared_ of him.

So _They_, whatever _They _were, were on a scale that was even worse than Voldemort...?

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School was quite a whirlwind. First, after having it out with Zabini on the Quidditch pitch and catching Neville's Rememberall (seriously, why was Zabini such an arse?) he finds himself in the position of Seeker in Gryffindor's Quidditch team (Mum had been upset that he had fought with someone, but said she was proud that he stood up for a friend. Dad was also happy he stood up for a friend and happy that Harry was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team like he had been although in different positions (James had been a Chaser). Uncle Remus was also happy, but warned Harry to be extra careful-he was a lot like Mum in that regard.)

Second, he gets so riled up by Zabini-which seemed to be happening fairly often now-that he fights it out with him in mock Duel and somehow he and Ron (who had come as his Second) and Hermione (who had apparently followed them to make sure they didn't get themselves-or the House-into any trouble) get stuck in the forbidden third floor room with an extremely large three headed dog that is apparently named Fluffy (so says Hagrid later when he and Ron tell him about the dog.)

Third, he had a new friend in Hermione Granger. Although she had been a bit uptight at first, after their shared experience (Ron included) of knocking out a Troll (long story short they hear about the Troll, find it in the girls bathroom where she was and work to knock it out), she had relaxed a lot more and was actually very friendly, nice, and a good person to know.

Also, from the looks of things, the package that had been taken out of the Vault in Gringotts, that someone had broken into too late to take it, was being guarded by the three headed dog Fluffy. A pretty nice defence, if Harry thought so himself. Hogwarts was one of the most protected place in the world so it should...

But so was Gringotts. And that had been broken into.

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This was _definitely _bigger than he had first thought.

Salazar wasn't the only one who looked worried.

Helga, and even _Rowena_, looked worried.

They all sat around in seats near to one another. He looks around between them. The tension could be, as the phrase said, cut with a knife. They looked more serious than in all the time he had known them-and he had seen them in their most serious moments (gathering Horcruxes and trying to stop Riddle wasn't exactly a cakewalk, after all.)

"So?" he finally says after it became clear that none of them would be the first to speak. "Can we talk about this now? What are _They _and what do they want? They reminded me of de-"

"_Sirius!_" The simultaneous voices all say.

Helga shakes her head. "Don't say it. We don't ever say it, lest it draw _Their _attention."

"Sorry." he mutters. He clears his throat. "Okay. So what about _Them_?"

"They're the enemy to everything." Rowena says, rather calmly considering the circumstances. "And I do mean everything. They once walked the world centuries before. Three times they met in battle with the gathered forces of what could be gathered against them and by the grace of Leaf and Star, we succeeded in dealing with them."

Leaf and Star, a phrase he hadn't heard before. Yet for some reason it rang with something familiar to him.

"But they're back again."

Helga nods, worry in her light brown brows. "We thought them defeated for good the third time. With everything that happened there should have been no way for any to have survived. But..." She shakes her head.

The way they were talking...it made him wonder.

"You've...dealt with them?" he asks hesitantly.

They all nod.

"More than I'd like," Salazar grumbles. "But yes. We've dealt with them."

"But..."

The way they were talking though, these things were around well before a thousand years ago, when the Founders were first born and everything. He knew they were old but they weren't _that_ old. So how could they...

Rowena seems to guess the trail of his thoughts, or had read them (he was never quite sure sometimes because she was very sharp and knew things even without her great mental abilities) and smiles minutely. "No, we are not _that_ old. Yet we did fight along side those of the Light many years back. A few times over. Back then, of course, we went by different names and sometimes were of different races, but our real desire to be a benefit to the good has never changed over the years, no matter how many times we have reincarnated."

"Only this time around," Helga continues, obviously talking about the matters of reincarnation. "We happened to be born in a position of such power that we are what we are now. I will not go into specifics about it now, but certainly we have not reincarnated since we were all born as Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin, Godric Gryffindor, and Salazar Slytherin. Nor will be be born again, unless-"

"That is enough Helga." Salazar says firmly.

Helga dips her head and quiets. Obviously there was much more to the story than he had once suspected, even more than before. That was neither here nor there at the moment. At the moment it was about _Them _and what it meant that _They _were walking in the world again, even if only a few.

"Suffice to say, we were not aware of _Them _until later, in this life. Once we did, we have made sure to take steps in case if somehow, some way, they ever returned. But not as much as we could have. After the last battle it didn't seem necessary. The Light had appeared and _They _were gone...or so we thought." Salazar pauses for a moment, appearing deep in thought. "Hogwarts was filled with defensive measures, in case _They_ ever appeared here, but that hasn't happened, thankfully."

"Here?" He felt full of questions and less answers, but at least they didn't seem bothered by the questions. If anything, they seemed glad to get things off their chests. He felt pretty certain that they were not speaking about these matters to others and if they had in the past it was a very long time ago, as they hadn't started to interact with the world at large until now. "But you said you fought them."

"Not here." Helga says. She too appeared deep in thought. "This isn't the only world, Sirius. And worlds are connected; _They _come from elsewhere. That does not mean their threat is any less potent now. If they take over one world, they will take over the rest. That is something we can never let happen."

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_The Philosopher's Stone - _

_The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal._

Well it was certain what was being guarded now; the legendary substance that was the property of Nicolas Flamel and was now being guarded at Hogwarts.

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It was almost hard to remember how he got here to this point; suspecting someone trying to steal the stone, learning the secrets to put Fluffy to sleep, going down further with Ron and Hermione, dealing with the Devil's Snare, the Keys, and even the potions...

And now...

Quirrell clutches at his head, screaming in pain, and the turban on his head comes falling off. Harry looks on in horror as blood flows down the man's eyes, his mouth.

"Master, master!" he moans. "I can still serve you! I can-!"

A shadow starts to flow from Quirrell's body. He looks on in mounting dread as the shadow starts to take form. Shadow smoke forms into deep red limbs, hands with razor sharp talons, feet with the same talons, with wings as black as night, eyes as yellow and shaped like a cats, large curling golden horns.

He shakes as it turns its shadow eyes at him.

And it _smiles_.

And he knows no more.

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His eyes flutter open and he winces as he hears yelling near him.

"He's awake!"

"Harry!"

"You stupid, stupid boy. You could have been killed!"

"Calm down, Lil. He's okay. He's our strong boy. And he's alive. Let's be grateful for that."

"Don't ever scare us like like that."

"He knows, Sirius. James is right; lets be grateful he is alive."

He turns and sees his family and Ron and Hermione standing near him.

"How did I...?" he croaks.

"Your courage helped you immensely." Dumbledore comes into view. "As to what else...we do not yet know. We may find out soon, but for now you are safe and the Stone is safe."

"And the-" he coughs. "The de-"

"Don't say it, Harry." Sirius urges, shaking his head. "Say _It_; don't give it another name."

"What happened to _It_?"

Dumbledore shakes his head. "A phantom. Not truly here. It left when Quirrell departed." Dumbledore smiles kindly down at Harry, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Now rest. You've earned it, Harry."

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I hope you enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

-PhoenixJustice


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